ri 


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STepHeN  Kerf]i 


I'hs  Story  of  d. 

Venture  iq  6thics 


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■iTM: 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


The  Glenn  Negley  Collection 
of  Utopian  Literature 


STEPHEN    REMARX 


STEPHEN    REMARX 


THE  STORY  OF  A    VENTURE 
IN  ETHICS 


BY 

JAMES    ADDERLEY 


tropd  0€<f»  navTO.  fwara  ftrn 


NEW    YORK 

E.  P.  DUTTON    &   COMPANY 

31  West   Twenty-third   Street 

1894 


CONTENTS. 

Chap. 

I.  Stephen      . 
II.  Hoxton 

III.  A  Lecture  .    - 

IV.  Westward  Ho! 
V.  The  Docker 

VI.  In  the  Wilderness 
VII.  Co7iversion 
VIII.  In  Excelsis 
IX.  The  Venture      . 
X.  Some  Pastoral  Epistles 
XI.  Progress    . 
XII.  Judgment. 
XIII.  On  the  Feast  of  Stephen 


I 

7 

21 

38 
46 

56 

66 

78 
96 
III 
116 
129 
140 


STHPHEN    REMARX 


STEPHEN 

Stephen  Remark  was  an  orphan,  the  son 
of  the  late  Lord  Remarx  of  Balustrade 
Abbey  in  Surrey.  His  brother,  Lord 
Remarx,  had  passed  into  another  sphere, 
where  the  wicked  do  not  cease  from 
troubling  and  the  weary  are  not  at  rest ; 
he  had,  in  fact,  "gone  to  the  bad." 
Gambling  had  done  it.  The  estate  was 
ruined,  his  wife  had  left  him,  his  three 
boys  had  gone  away  from  home,  the 
eldest  to  Manitoba,  the  second  to  Madras 
and  the  youngest — well,  nobody  knew  ot 
his  whereabouts.  He  was  last  seen,  when 
he  was  "sacked"  from  Eton  for  catapult- 
ing a  master's  wife  on  her  way  to  chapel. 
Lord  Remarx  spent  a  good  deal   of  his 


STEPHEN  REMARK 


time  at  Monte  Carlo,  but  occasionally  came 
to  London  to  vote  for  the  Deceased  Wife's 
Sister's  Bill  or  to  have  a  tooth  out.  But 
he  never  came  to  his  brother's  church,  the 
fashionable  Church  of  St.  Mark  and  the 
Angels,  Chelsea.  This  was  not  surprising, 
for  the  two  brothers  were  quite  different 
from  one  another. 

In  the  old  days  at  Balustrade  when 
boys  they  had  never  agreed.  Stephen  was 
for  ever  reading  books,  while  his  brother 
was  bird's-nesting.  On  a  Sunday  afternoon, 
while  the  elder  son  was  smoking  in  the 
hayloft,  Stephen  would  love  to  sit  in  the 
garden  with  his  mother,  and  listen  to  her 
while  she  taught  him  the  Catechism  in  her 
old-fashioned  way.  "  Who  are  my  betters?  " 
the  boy  would  ask.  "  Well,  my  dear,"  the 
Countess  would  reply,  "  you  have  not  many 
of  them,  that  part  of  the  Catechism  is 
written  for  the  lower  orders :  in  fact,  you. 
are  yourself  a  '  better '  and  they  must 
order  themselves  lowly  and  reverently  to 
you."  "  I  see,"  said  Stephen,  though  he  felt 
somehow  that  his  mother  was  wrong. 


STEPHEN 

Not  long  after  this   his    parents    died, 
and  he  was  left  very  much  to  himself,  his 
old  guardian  and  uncle,  the  Marquis  of  St. 
Alphege,  having  a  theory  that  the  more  you 
interfered  with  a  boy  the  worse  he  became* 
If  this  Uieory  were  correct,  the  young  Farl 
Ren^rx  would  have  been  a  terrible  villain, 
if  the  Marquis  had  paid  any  attention  to 
his  education.    As  it  was  he  went  quite  fast 
enough  on  the  downward  path.     At  twenty- 
one  he  married  an  actress  from  the  Jollity 
Theatre,  whose  chief  accomplishment  was 
a  peculiar  twist  of  her  ankles  in  the  dance 
between  the  verses  of  a  comic  song;   at 
twenty-four  he  had  nearly  been  put  into 
prison  at  Bordeaux  for  stealing  somebody's 
pearl  studs ;  and  at  twenty-six  he  had  run 
through  so  much  money,  that  her  ladyship 
thought  he  was  not  worth  hanging  on  to,  and 
so  went  back  to  the  Jollity,  where  she  is  still 
performing  nightly.    Stephen  on  the  other 
hand  went  on  quietly.     At  Eton  he  was 
chiefly  known  as  a  "beastly  sap,"  which 
translated  into  more  elegant  and  Christian 
language  means  that  he  tried  to  construe 

3 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


his  Homer  without  the  aid  of  a  translation, 
and  to  gather  a  Httle  of  the  knowledge  and 
training  which  a  Public  School  is  in  theory 
supposed  to  supply.  He  was  a  good 
cricketer,  and  would  have  been  in  the 
eleven  had  he  not  foolishly  persisted  in 
reading  for  a  Scholarship  in  the  summer 
half.  He  was  also  partially  disabled  by  a 
sprain,  caused  in  carrying  home  the  Cap- 
tain of  the  Boats  drunk  on  the  Fourth  of 
June.  If  it  were  asked  what  good  did 
Eton  do  to  him,  the  answer  would  be 
found  in  that  peculiar  charm  of  real 
gentility  and  in  that  high  sense  of  honour 
which  characterized  him  all  through  his 
life. 

Oxford  was,  however,  a  more  congenial 
sphere  for  Stephen  Remarx.  H  e  made  the  e 
the  acquaintance  of  several  first-rate  men 
of  a  lower  class.  Most  of  them  had  been 
educated  at  country  Grammar  Schools,  but 
they  had  the  manners  of  gentlemen  all  the 
same.  They  thought  it  a  good  thing  to  read 
hard  and  to  row  hard,  and  somehow  they 
had  a  very  happy  time.     It  is  true  they 


STEPHEN 

scarcely  ever  went  to  wines,  and  never  let  o(T 
fireworks  under  the  Dean's  nose,  nor  broke 
the  Chapel  windows,  nor  ducked  the  porter 
in  the  fountain ;  but,  nevertheless,  they 
appeared  to  be  quite  as  well  bred  as  the 
Duke  of  Lundy's  two  sons,  or  the  young 
^Marquis  of  Lindisfarne  who  did  all  these 
things  regularly  every  term.  Stephen  was 
also  a  favourite  with  many  of  the  tutors 
and  senior  men.  He  was  a  particular 
friend  of  Frederick  Hope,  whose  theological 
lectures  created  so  deep  an  impression  on 
the  Oxford  of  that  time.  But  it  was  not 
at  the  lectures  chiefly  that  Stephen  got  at 
the  mind  of  this  remarkable  clergyman. 
It  was  in  the  quiet  talks  they  had  together 
at  night  in  Hope's  rooms.  Then  it  was, 
that  as  Hope  murmured  on  over  the  fire 
for  hours  together  of  religion  and  social 
problems,  there  grew  up  in  Stephen's  mind 
an  ideal,  the  realisation  of  which  has  caused 
this  story  to  be  written. 

In  later  times,  when  Stephen  became  a 
much  talked  of  man,  he  would  always  say 
to  young  men  who  came  and  spoke  to  him  ; 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


"  I  should  never  have  done  what  I  have 
done  nor  been  what  I  have  been  if  it  had 
not  been  for  Frederick  Hope.  It  was  he 
who  opened  my  eyes,  it  was  he  who  made 
me  first  wonder  whether  God  really  meant  ■ 
great  crowds  of  men  to  live  in  poverty  and 
overwork,  while  many  live  in  luxury  and 
idleness  upon  the  labours  of  the  rest :  it  vvas 
he  who  made  me  look  round  about  me  at  the 
undergraduates  of  my  College,  rich  young 
men  wasting  their  time,  throwing  away  the 
priceless  opportunities  of  Oxford,  which 
many  poor  men  would  give  their  very  eyes  to 
have,  but  which  are  denied  them,  because, 
forsooth,  they  have  not  enough  money  to 
pay  for  a  university  career  :  aye,  and  it  was 
he,"  Stephen  would  say,  "who  pointed  me 
to  the  One  True  Liberator,  who  made  me 
feel  certain  that  if  ever  a  brighter  day 
should  come  for  England,  and  if  ever  a  way 
out  of  the  darkness  should  be  found,  it 
would  be  through  Christ." 


II 

HOXTON 

Stephen  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of 
London,  and  received  a  title  from  the  Rev. 
David  Bloose,  D.D.,  Vicar  of  St.  Titus, 
Hoxton.  Dr.  Bloose  had  been  a  distin- 
guished person  in  his  day,  but  his  day  was 
now  over.  He  had  rowed  stroke  of  his 
college  eight  in  the  year  1854,  he  had 
won  a  Scholarship,  he  had  edited  a  play 
of  Aristophanes,  he  had  maintained  a 
healthy  opposition  to  all  the  various 
theological  bugbears  of  the  century, 
"  Essays  and  Reviews,"  "  Ecce  Homo," 
"  Robert  Elsmere  "  and  "  Lux  Mundi  :  " 
he  believed  intensely  in  himself,  wrote 
various  pamphlets  which  he  gave  away 
to  his  friends  and  to  his  housemaid,  and 
belonged    to    the    National    Club.     Hiii 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


grateful  College  could  hardly  have  done 
less  than  they  did,  when  they  appointed 
this  distinguished  Son  of  theirs  to  the 
parish  of  St.  Titus,  the  plum  of  their  East- 
end  patronage  with  a  Church-rate  pro- 
ducing ;£"7oo  a  year.  Dr  Bloose  readily 
exchanged  his  country  vicarage  at  Slum- 
berside  for  this  exciting  sphere  of  labour 
in  Hoxton.  Not  that  he  had  any 
intention  of  allowing  himself  to  be 
excited  or  to  be  afflicted  with  an  increase 
of  labour.  Labour,  indeed  !  Why,  already 
he  was  spending  four  hours  a  day  in 
writing  books  or  correcting  proofs,  two 
hours  were  devoted  to  his  sofa,  for  his 
doctor  had  ordered  it  as  necessary  for  his 
health,  four  more  hours  were  for  exercise, 
two  for  recreative  reading,  three  for  meals, 
and  the  rest  for  bed.  What  more  could 
he  do?  So  he  settled  himself  at  the 
Vicarage  of  St.  Titus.  He  had  been  there 
twenty  years  when  Stephen  was  ordained. 
During  that  time  he  had  preached  some  two 
thousand  sermons,  and  had  combated 
nearly  every  modern  heresy  from  Agnos- 

8 


HOXTON 

ticism  to  Theosophy  for  the  edification 
of  the  verger,  the  two  pew-openers,  fifteen 
old  men  and  fifteen  old  women,  who,  by 
the  charity  of  Dame  Alice  Daw,  ob.  a.d. 
1764,  were  given  three  pence  a-piece  and 
a  loaf  every  Sunday  morning,  and  double 
the  amount  on  Christmas  Day. 

He  did  not  visit  the  sick,  because  he  had 
a  tendency  to  faint  away  if  the  walls  of 
the  room,  in  which  he  might  happen  to  be, 
were  less  than  fourteen  feet  high.  He 
seldom  rubbed  up  against  his  parishioners, 
for  fear  of  receiving  from  them  an  ad- 
dition to  the  liveliness  of  his  person.  He 
had  once  during  a  sermon  seen  what  he 
at  first  thought  was  a  Protestant  miracle : 
one  of  the  ink-blots  on  his  manuscript 
began  to  move  across  the  page  as  if  on 
legs.  Suddenly  realising  that  it  was  no 
blot,  but  one  of  those  marvels  of  the 
Universe  which  owe  more  for  the  pleasure 
of  existence  to  the  carelessness  of  man 
than  to  the  care  of  the  Creator,  the  good 
Doctor  turned  a  deadly  white,  and  regard- 
less of  the  fact  that  he  was  in  the  midst 

9 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


of  convincing  his  little  flock  of  the 
absurdities  of  Pantheism,  he  fled  down 
the  pulpit  stairs,  and  gathering  up  the 
skirts  of  his  Geneva  gown  raced  down 
the  aisle  and  into  the  Vicarage  nearly 
knocking  over  Mrs.  Bloose,  who  was  at 
that  moment  triumphantly  carrying  a  pink 
"shape"  into  the  dining-room  which  she 
had  been  coaxing  all  the  morning  to  stand 
up  straight  in  the  dish. 

Mrs.  Bloose  was  not  a  prepossessing 
personage.  She  w\:)uld  have  made  a 
moderately  successful  monthly  nurse.  As 
the  Doctor's  wife  she  was  a  failure.  She 
could  not  enter  into  the  subtleties  of  her 
husbands  sermons.  To  her  it  mattered 
little  whether  Evolution  could  be  made  to 
square  with  Christianity  or  Darwin  •with 
Moses.  But  neither  could  she  take  a 
Mother's  Meeting  nor  keep  a  servant. 
Thirty-three  cooks  had  come  and  gone 
in  twenty  years,  and  now  she  managed  the 
kitchen  herself.  The  Doctor  and  the 
dinner  sufl"ered  in  consequence,  but  as 
she  remarked  to  the  female  pew-opener, 


HOXTON 

"Anything  for  a  quiet  life  !  "  In  appear 
ance,  as  some  one  remarked  about  her 
once,  she  gave  one  the  idea  of  having 
been  lately  dragged  through  a  hedge 
backwards.  Of  the  joys  of  this  world  poor 
Mrs.  Bloose  knew  little.  It  was  therefore 
an  unusual  delight  to  the  good  lady,  when 
her  husband  informed  her  that  Stephen 
was  to  be  the  new  curate. 

"  Fancy  a  real  live  lord's  son  coming  to 
live  with  us  !  I  must  put  up  the  new  blue 
curtains  in  his  lordship's  bedroom,  and  we 
must  have  dinner  at  eight  instead  of  one." 
"No,  my  love,"  said  the  Doctor,  "we 
will  alter  nothing  of  that  kind,  because 
Mr.  Remarx  is  a  man  of  very  simple 
habits,  and  would  like  us  to  go  on  just  as 
we  are.  Perhaps,  however.  Posy  and  Bob 
might  have  their  dinners  up  in  the  nursery 
while  he  is  with  us,  and  the  tablecloth 
might  be  oftener  changed.  I  have  noticed 
that  there  are  a  number  of  mustard  stains 
upon  it,  and  you  seem  to  have  forgotten 
that  Bob  upset  the  Harvey's  sauce  at  the 
north  end   three  weeks  ago.     Otherwise, 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


my  love,  let  us  continue  our  simple  life, 
even  though  the  Honourable  Remarx  is 
coming  to  stay." 

So  the  "Honourable  Remarx"  came. 
There  could  hardly  have  been  picked  out 
a  curacy  more  contrary  to  the  tastes  of 
Stephen  than  this  of  St.  Titus,  Hoxton. 
He  came  up  from  Oxford  brimming  over 
with  social  enthusiasm.  He  had  studied 
Political  Economy,  he  had  read  all  the 
socialistic  literature  of  the  day,  and  de- 
voured his  Daily  Chronicle:  he  had  fre- 
quented the  Pusey  House ;  he  had  read 
both  the  Booths,  the  "  General "  William 
and  the  more  particular  Charles ;  he  had 
dived  into  the  Reports  and  attended 
the  meetings  in  connection  with  Oxford 
House  and  Toynbee  Hall ;  he  had  formed 
in  his  mind  an  idea  of  East  London 
Church  Work  very  different  from  that 
which  he  found  at  St.  Titus.  He  had 
pictured  to  himself  a  crowd  of  eager 
students  flocking  to  be  taught  by  Dr. 
Bloose,  atheists,  agnostics,  secularists,  ma- 
terialists,  and  theosophists,  earnestly  argu 


IIOXTON 

ing  with  the  Vicar  on  religious  questions, 
while  his  wife  dealt  out  soup  and  bread  to 
a  host  of  the  "  submerged  tenth."  lie  had 
hoped  to  find  the  Doctor  well  up  in  all 
the  industrial  problems  of  the  hour,  con- 
sulting with  the  Union  leaders,  and  offering 
to  arbitrate  between  employer  and  em- 
ployed. He  was  grievously  disappointed. 
The  Doctor,  it  is  true,  dealt  with  the  re- 
ligious difficulties  of  the  day,  but  only  in 
books  and  pamphlets  which  nobody  read, 
or  in  sermons  to  which  nobody  listened. 
He  had  never  spoken  to  an  East-end 
atheist  in  his  life.  As  for  educational 
work,  he  simply  disapproved  of  it.  The 
Board  ^Schools  were  to  him  the  especial 
dwelling-places  of  Satan,  the  University 
Settlements  were  mistaken  attempts  to 
supplant  the  parochial  system;  General 
Booth  he  considered  an  impostor,  and 
therefore  the  "  submerged  tenth  "  should 
be  left  to  starve ;  while  as  for  the  Labour 
movement,  it  was  a  revolution,  and  ought 
to  be  put  down  by  Government. 

A  few  days  after  his  arrival  in  Hoxton, 

13 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


Stephen  found  himself  launched  into  an 
argument  with  the  Doctor. 

"  I  suppose  you  often  have  Tom  Mann 
and  Ben  Tillett  in  here,  don't  you  ?  "  said 
Stephen. 

"  Who  are  they  ? "  said  Mrs.  Bloose 
innocently. 

"My  dear,"  said  the  Doctor,  looking 
reprovingly  at  his  wife,  "go  on  with  your 
dinner."  Then  turning  to  Stephen,  he 
continued,  "  Mr.  Remarx,  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  those  gentlemen,  nor  do 
I  want  to  be ;  I  would  as  soon  admit  a 
convict  to  my  house  as  them." 

"  Oh,"  said  Stephen,  "  I  believe  they 
are  most  agreeable  people  :  besides,  there 
is  surely  no  better  way  of  studying  the 
social  question,  than  to  get  to  know  exactly 
what  the  leading  men  on  the  labour  side 
think  and  say." 

"I  have  no  wish  to  study  the  labour 
side,  as  you  call  it,  at  all,"  replied  the 
Doctor.  "I  have  studied  Adam  Smith, 
Mill,  and  Ricardo.  I  am  quite  convinced 
that  the  modern  attempts  which  are  being 
14 


HOXTON 

made  by  the  revolutionary  party  to  raise 
wages  artificially,  and  to  drive  capital  out 
of  the  country,  must  end  in  terrible  disaster 
and  the  ruin  of  England." 

"But  surely,  if  you  think  so,  Dr.  "Bloosc," 
said  Stephen,  "you  ought  to  do  something 
to  ward  off  this  awful  calamity,  and  by 
way  of  commencement,  would  it  not  be  a 
good  thing  to  make  quite  sure  what  it  is 
Avhich  the  *  revolutionary  party,'  as  you 
call  them,  really  propose  to  do  ?  I  daresay 
if  you  knew  some  of  these  bloodthirsty 
people,  you  would  find  them  quite  harmless 
and  sensible  after  all." 

"  Mr.  Kemarx,"  said  the  Doctor,  some- 
what sternly,  "I  consider  these  questions 
wholly  outside  a  clergyman's  sphere  of 
duty.  I  have  other  things  to  do  than  to 
be  mixing  up  in  all  these  labour  ques- 
tions." 

"  But,  Doctor,  your  work  as  Vicar  of 
St.  Titus  lies,  surely,  does  it  not,  almost 
entirely  among  working-people,  who  are 
intensely  interested  in  these  matters? 
In  fact,  to  them    they   are    questions    of 

IS 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


bread   and  butter,  of  life  or  slow  death, 
perhaps." 

The  Doctor  looked  at  his  curate  with  a 
pitying,  patronising  gaze.  "My  dear 
young  man,  if  you  had  studied  these  things 
in  books  as  I  have,  and  had  not  simply 
listened  to  what  ignorant  people  say,  you 
would  know  that  these  men  might  just  as 
well  try  to  fight  against  the  clock,  and  at- 
tempt to  make  the  time  go  backwards,  as 
fight  against  the  laws  of  Political  Economy. 
If  they  are  to  starve,  starve  they  will." 

"  And  do  you  think,  then,"  said  Stephen, 
"  that  the  continuation  of  our  present  in- 
dustrial system  is  likely  to  result  in  the 
practical  starvation  of  many  of  the  poor?  " 

"I  think  it  quite  likely,"  said  the  Doctor, 
complacently  helpmg  hmiself  to  a  second 
plate  of  boiled  mutton  and  capers. 

"  And  yet,  as  a  mmister  of  Christ,  who 
had  compassion  on  the  starving  multitude, 
you  think  it  is  outside  your  sphere  of  duty 
to  attempt  even  to  learn  what  proi30sals 
are  being  made  to  prevent  this  alarming 
catastrophe." 
x6 


IIOXTON 

The  Vicar  coughed,  and  Mrs.  Bloose, 
with  a  tact  which  she  displayed  about  once 
in  three  years,  began  to  talk  about  the 
weather.  But  the  good  lady's  conversa- 
tional powers  were  limited,  even  when 
devoted  to  her  favourite  subject,  and  at 
last  she  ceased. 

Stephen  very  calmly  renewed  his  ob- 
servations. "  It  seems  to  me,"  he  said, 
"  that  we,  priests  and  deacons " 

'•Priests  !  "  said  Mrs.  Bloose,  interrupt- 
ing him  with  a  look  of  dismay,  "  does  the 
Honourable  Remarx  refer  to  the  Doctor  ? 
Surely,  David,  you  have  often  told  me 
that  there  is  no  priest  in  the  Protestant 
Church." 

"You  are  right,  my  dear,"  said  the 
Doctor,  rather  glad  than  otherwise  to 
change  the  conversation.  *'Mr.  Remarx 
has  doubtless  fallen  into  the  error,  so 
common  with  the  younger  clergy,  of  fancy- 
ing that  the  word  '  priest '  in  our  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  is  a  translation  of  the 
Latin  'sacerdos.'  I,  of  course,  having 
studied  the  subject,  know  that  it  is  a  trans- 

B  17 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


lation  of  the  word  'presbyter/  a  very 
difterent  thing :  in  fact,  the  difierence  is 
immense." 

"Oh,  I  don't  think  that  will  affect  what 
I  was  going  to  say,"  said  the  Curate.  "  I 
will  call  them  presbyters  if  you  prefer  it. 
I  was  going  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion, 
we  presbyters  and  deacons  should  get  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  these  social  ques- 
tions, not  only  from  books,  but  by  living 
contact  with  the  poor  themselves  "  (the 
Doctor  involuntarily  shuddered).  "  In  this 
way  we  shall  be  able  to  help  them  more 
effectually." 

*'  Our  work,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  is  sim- 
ply and  solely  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and 
I  flatter  myself  I  have  done  so  for  twenty 
years  in  this  place." 

*' But,"  said  the  imperturbable  Stephen, 
**  what  is  the  Gospel  ?  Good  news,  isn't 
it?  Now,  what  could  be  better  news  for 
these  poor  people,  than  to  tell  them  the 
way  out  of  their  troubles  ?  " 

"  You  surely  don't  mean, "  said  Dr. 
Bloose,  "that  you  think  we  ought  to  get  up 

i8 


HOXTON 

in  the  pulpit  and  preach  Socialism?  You 
don't  call  that  the  Gospel,  do  you  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Stephen,  "not  exactly  that, 
but  I  do  think  it  would  be  more  like  the 
Gospel  of  our  Master,  if  we  were  to  get  up 
in  ths  pulpit  and  tell  them  that  so  far  as 
thsy  want  to  have  proper  food  and  decent 
homss  and  opportunities  of  development, 
they  are  only  desiring  what  their  heavenly 
Father  wants  to  give  them,  and  that  so  far 
as  thay  are  being  kept  from  them,  it  is 
because  of  the  iselfisnness  of  men  who  will 
not  do  God's  will  on  ^arth,  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven. '' 

"Then  do  you  mean  to  say,"  said  the 
Doctor  somewnat  alarmed,  though  not  a 
bit  convinced,  •'  that  you  intend  to  preach 
disconcenr  lo  the  people  ?  " 

'•I  think,"  said  Stephen,  "that  there  is 
a  Divine  discontent  that  it  may  be  our 
duty  at  times  to  preach,  though  I  confess 
I  would  rather  preach  it  in  the  West  than 
in  the  East.  The  rich  should  be  made 
discontented.  God  give  me  the  oppor- 
tunity and  Courapie  to  do  it  before  I  die." 

10 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


"You  have  very  queer  views,  young 
man,"  said  the  Vicar,  demurely  drumming 
on  his  plate  with  the  cheese-knife,  "very 
queer  views  indeed.  Where  did  you  pick 
them  up?" 

"I  have  been  reading  the  Prophets 
and  the  Gospels,"  replied  Stephen,  thought- 
fully looking  out  into  the  crowded  street, 
*'  and  I  have  been  meditating,  that's  all" 


so 


in 

A  LECTURE 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that   the   old 
Vicar  and  his  young  curate  were  for  ever 
quarrelling,  or  that  any  serious  feud  arose 
between  them.    The  Doctor  was  an  apostle 
of  laissez-faire  in  parochial  as  well  as  in 
economical  matters.    He  went  his  way  and 
he  let  Stephen  go  his.     Occasionally,  on  a 
Sunday,  he  would  reprove  the  young  deacon 
for  some  of  his  pulpit  utterances,  as  for 
example,  when  he  startled  the  old  alms- 
people  by  telling  them  that  "  to  come  to 
Church  for  what  you  can  get"  is  an  insult 
to  Almighty  God,  and  more  likely  to  land 
you  in  hell  fire  than  any  amount  of  honest 
unbelief,"     or     when    he    offended     the 
Churchwardens  by  saying  that    "  the   re- 
spectable   Pharisee,  who    stalks    up   the 

ax 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


Church  in  black  cloth  and  yellow  kid 
gloves  and  boxes  the  children's  ears  while 
he  is  singing  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  is  a  more 
offensive  sight  to  God's  eyes  than  the 
poor  lost  woman  in  the  street." 

As  a  rule,  however,  Stephen  was  left  to 
himself  to  think,  and  read,  and  watch  and 
wait.  He  found  out  more  about  the 
condition  of  St.  Titus '  parish  in  one  month, 
than  the  Doctor  had  discovered  in  twenty 
years.  First  of  all,  he  found  that  it  was  a 
hotbed  of  militant  Secularism.  While  the 
Vicar  was  droning  away  in  a  black  gown 
on  the  "  Wonders  of  Creation ''  to  a  con- 
gregation of  twenty  on  a  Sunday  morning, 
Mark  Smasham  was  addressing  a  crowd  of 
four  hundred  men  in  the  high  road,  fifty 
yards  from  the  Church,  on  the  "  Contradic- 
tions of  Genesis  or  the  Muddles  of  Moses." 
While  the  Biblewoman  was  flattering  herself 
that  her  Tuesday  evening  class  of  fourteen 
girls  was  drawing  the  young  women  of  Hox- 
ton  into  the  paths  of  safety,  "  Mrs.  Lucy 
Grafton,  the  Peaceful  Anarchist,"  had  estab- 
lished an  "Institute  for  Female  Citizens, 


A  LECTURE 

the  membership  of  whicli  had  reached  two 
hundred  and  fifty  in  a  fortnight. 

While  the  Verger's  wife  had  fitted  up  the 
disused  coal-cellar  under  the  Church  as  a 
reading-room  for  working-men,  whither  her 
husband  and  three  of  his  "pals"  resorted 
to  play  whist  on  those  nights,  when  they 
did  not  care  to  go  to  the  "  Royal  Standard," 
the  "  Hoxton  Progressives  "  had  opened  a 
Club,  where  some  hundreds  of  the  Doctor's 
flock  might  be  found  any  evening  of  the 
week  enjoying  themselves.     This  sort  of 
thing  would  have  broken  the  heart  of  any- 
one less  Christian  than  Stephen  Remarx. 
To  find  his  beloved  Church  of  England  so 
lamentably  in  the  second  place  was  indeed 
a  trial,  but  he  bore  up  and  manfully  went 
out  to  fight  for  his  Master.     One  thought 
especially  buoyed  him  up.     It  was  this. 
He  knew  from  personal  experience  that 
such  a  parish  as  St.  Titus  was  an  exception 
to  the  general  rule.    He  knew  that  in  other 
parts  of  East  London  the  work  of  social 
reformation   was    being    led    by    faithful 
Church  people.    He  was  a  personal  friend 

23 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


of  the  workers  at  the  different  University 
Settlements  and  College  Missions.  He 
knew  what  they  were  doing,  and  he  knew  of 
the  patient,  godly  labours  of  many  a  parish 
priest.  Moreover,  he  knew  that  his  cause 
was  right.  He  believed,  with  an  undying 
conviction,  that  what  these  poor  men  and 
women  wanted  was  just  that  which  he  had 
to  give,  and  which  though  at  present  they 
seemed  not  to  care  for,  they  would  one  day 
feel  the  need  of,  the  Power  of  a  strong  and 
living  Saviour,  the  Rule  of  a  liberty-loving 
King.  His  method  of  Church  work  was 
peculiar.  He  studied  his  Prayer-book,  and 
tried  to  find  out  what  the  mind  of  the 
Church  of  PJngland  seemed  to  be.  He 
would  argue  thus  with  himself:  "The 
Church  does  not  seem  to  me  so  exclusive 
as  I  once  thought  she  was ;  she  bids  me  tell 
every  man,  woman  and  child  who  has  been 
baptized  that  they  belong  to  Christ ;  she 
seems  to  picture  herself  as  a  great  Society 
co-extensive  almost  with  the  Nation,  bound 
by  most  strict  promises  to  fight  for  Christ 
and  right.  As  I  look  round  this  parish,  I 
24 


A  LECTURE 


find  very  few  who  appear  to  be  attempting 
to   do    this.     Of  the   few  who   come   to 
Church,  only  one  or  two  seem  to  be  at 
all  inclined  that  way.     On  the  other  hand, 
as  I  look  outside  at  those  *  Progressives ' 
and  even  at  the  Secularists,  I  find  a  number 
of  men  who  are  striving  after  something 
very  much  more  like  the  Truth.    They  say 
that  they  want  to  make  this  world  a  better 
place,  they  say  they  want  all  men  to  be 
treated  justly,  they  say  they  hate  selfishness 
and  admire  self-sacrifice,  and  they  practise 
it  too,  they  say  they  want  each  man  to  be 
allowed  to  develop  the  life  that  is  in  him, 
to  think,  to  read,  to  know  something  of  the 
joy  of  leisure  and  home  and  friends,  they 
say  that  they  admire  Christ  and  wish  all 
were  like  Him.     Yes,  this  was  just  exactly 
what  the  lecturer  said  at  the  Club  on  the 
night  when  I  went  to  listen.     And  they  all 
applauded  him,  their  faces  lit  up  at  the 
thoughts  suggested  by  him.     Then  they 
laughed  when  they  saw  me,  a  clergyman, 
the  minister  of  Christ.     But  why  did  they 
laugh  ?     They  did  not  laugh  because  they 

25 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


thought  I  looked  like  Christ.  If  they  had 
thought  that,  they  would  have  applauded 
me,  but  they  laughed  because  they  thought 
I  was  not  like  Him.  They  muttered* 
*  Ah !  there's  the  parson,  it's  a  pity  he  is 
not  like  his  Master.' 

"I  know  what  I  must  try  and  do.  I 
must  insert  myself  into  the  social  life  of 
this  place.  I  must  become  a  member  of 
these  Clubs  and  Institutes.  I  must  go  in 
and  out  among  them.  I  must  try  to 
draw  them  to  believe  that  they  are  the 
Church.  I  must  show  them  that,  so  far  as 
their  ideals  go,  they  are  right  and  true  ones, 
because  they  are  the  ideals  of  Christ. 

"Butthey  mustlearn  to  know  Him  better. 
And  how  can  they  know  Him  unless  I, 
His  minister,  can  show  them  what  He  is  ? 
For  what  else  do  I  exist  but  to  bring  men 
to  Christ  ?  " 

For  three  years  Stephen  lived  at  Hoxton. 

During  that  time,  he  certainly  succeeded 

in  what  he  called  "inserting  himself  into 

the  social  life  of  the  place."     He  became 

26 


A  LlvCTURE 


a  well-known  character.  The  old  church 
was  full  when  it  was  rumoured  that  "  the 
curate"  was  going  to  preach,  and  the 
Doctor  gradually  left  off  attempting  to 
compete  with  him.  An  accommodating 
physician  was  found,  who  discovered  that 
*'  three  weeks  at  Brighton  "  were  periodi- 
cally necessary  for  the  life  of  the  Vicar. 
They  were  certainly  conducive  to  the  life 
of  the  parish,  for  they  meant  "  Mr. 
Remarx  in  sole  charge,"  and  that  meant  a 
full  church  and  an  eager  congregation. 
Then,  too,  he  would  go  out  Sunday  after 
Sunday  into  the  high  road  and  preach  after 
Mark  Smasham  had  finished  his  orations. 
It  was  noticed  by  many  that  Mark's  meet- 
ing was  not  so  well  attended  as  in  old 
days.  "  We  like  to  hear  Mr.  Stephen,'* 
the  men  would  say,  '•  he's  got  something  to 
tell  us."  Frequently,  too,  the  young 
curate  would  mount  the  platform  at  the 
*'  Progressive  Club,"  but  he  never  spoke 
on  a  social  subject  without  reminding  them 
of  Christ.  Thus  they  got  to  feel  that 
'there   was   a  real  difference  between  his 

27 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


lectures,  and  those  which  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  hear  from  others.  Stephen's 
gave  his  hearers  the  impression  that,  at 
any  rate  in  his  opinion,  something  more 
was  wanted  than  material  improvement 
for  the  masses. 

So  genuine  was  the  impression  which 
Stephen  was  making  on  the  life  and 
thought  of  the  place,  that  it  became 
necessary  for  the  Secularists  to  take  steps 
to  counteract  his  influence.  A  leading 
lecturer  was  engaged  to  speak  at  the 
"Institute  for  Female  Citizens,"  opened 
"  for  this  occasion  only "  to  reformers  of 
both  sexes.  As  the  lecture  had  a  great 
eftect  on  the  mind  of  Stephen  himself, 
more  perhaps  than  it  had  on  the  minds  of 
the  remainder  of  the  audience,  it  has  been 
thought  well  to  give  some  extracts  from  it. 

The  subject  of  the  lecture  was  an- 
nounced thus :  "  JV/iy  we  cannot  become 
Christiansr  The  lecturer  began  with  a 
vigorous  description  of  the  aims  and 
objects  of  social  reformers.  "  There  is,' 
he  said,  "a  social  question;  no  one  except 
28 


A  LECTURE 


a  fool  can  altogether  shut  his  eyes  to  what 
is  going  on  around  him.     We  have  certain 
ghastly  facts  staring  us  in  the  face.    There 
is  the  ghastly  fact  of  a  few  men  rolling  in 
riches,  and  absolutely  not  knowing  what  to 
do  with  their  wealth,  side  by  side  with  a 
multitude  of  others  so  poor  that  they  can- 
not live  a  decent  life.    I  am  not  only  allud- 
ing to  the  so-called  *  submerged '  portion  ot 
the  community,  but  I  speak  of  the  crowds 
of  men  and  women  with  good  characters 
and   abilities   who  are  willing  to  do  but 
unable  to  get  work.     We  are  surrounded  in 
this  East-end  of  ours  by  people  who  are 
slowly  dying  from  insufticient  food,  who 
are  denied  the  barest  necessities  of  exist- 
ence, whose  lives  are  one  perpetual  yearnj 
ing  after  work  which  seldom  comes,  who 
have  got   no  hearts  left  for  pleasure,   or 
study,   or   any  of  the    possible    joys    of 
humanity.     I    speak    of    the    men    and 
women,  the  young  lads  and  girls,  who,  if 
they  have  got  work,  must  be  content  to 
accept  it  in  such  a  form  that  it  is  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  slavery.     Ladies  and 

29 


STEPHEN   REMARX 


gentlemen,"  continued  the  lecturer,  "  none 
but  the  careless  'masher,'  whose  tailor's 
bill  will  always  be  paid  by  his  father  if  he 
runs  through  his  allowance,  the  popular 
professional  lawyer  who  will  never  want  a 
brief,  the  fashionable  doctor  w^hose  patients 
are  legion,  and  his  fee  two  guineas,  the 
retired  money-grubber,  the  hereditary 
millionaire,  none  but  such  as  these  can 
dare  to  shut  their  eyes  and  say  that  there 
is  no  social  question,  I  need  not  waste 
my  time  in  proving  it.  Even  the  Bishops 
believe  it."  (This  he  said  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye  and  the  audience  laughed.) 

"Now  comes  the  question:  'Is  there 
no  remedy  ? '  Well,  I  am  not  an  exireme 
man,  I  am  not  an  optimist,  I  do  not  thmk 
we  shall  make  things  better  all  in  a  day ; 
but  1  do  think  we  can  find  out  the  lines 
on  which  we  ought  to  work,  I  do  thuik 
that  our  children's  children  may  enjoy 
a  happier  life  than  we  do. 

"We  believe  that  Parliament  can  do 
much   for  us.      There  are  some  of  our 
laws  which  want  changing.    We  want  more 
30. 


A  LECTURE 


laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  worker.  The 
capitaHst  and  the  landlord  have  had  it  all 
their  own  way  too  long.  Yes,  the  Democracy 
will  look  after  itstlf.  Education  will  teach 
us  what  we  have  a  right  to,  Science  is 
showing  us  what  we  are,  and  what  we  are 
meant  to  be.  We  are  willing  to  be  helj)ed 
in  our  social  endeavours  by  all  those  who 
will  work  for  the  common  good.  And  this 
brings  me  to  the  subject  of  my  lecture — ■ 
*  Why  we  cannot  be  Christians.' 

"  I  understand  that  lately,  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood, there  has  been  an  attempt  made 
by  a  minister  of  the  Established  religion 
to  persuade  people  that  the  true  panacea 
for  all  our  social  evils  is  Christianity.  I 
will  at  once  say  that,  so  far  as  this  reverend 
gentleman  will  help  us  to  solve  the  social 
problem,  I  am  glad  to  welcome  him  as  a 
brother,  but  as  regards  his  panacea,  I 
must  say  I  do  not  believe  in  it. 

"  I  have  come  here  to-night  to  give  you 
my  reasons  for  not  believing  in  Christian- 
ity as  a  social  reforming  agency  at  the 
present   juncture.     Mark  you,   I   do    not 

31 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


intend  to-night  to  question  the  fact  that 
Christianity  has  had  a  certain  effect  upon 
the  world,  though  I  am  prepared  to  main- 
tain that  civihsation  has  done  much  more. 
I  do  not  deny  that  there  was  once  a  re- 
markable man  called  Christ,  who  said 
some  startling  things  to  which  nobody 
pays  any  attention  now.  But  I  do  not 
believe  that  we  should  be  any  nearer  the 
solution  of  the  social  problem  if  we 
became  Christians.  These  are  my  reasons. 
First,  we  are  in  the  great  difficulty  of  not 
exactly  knowing  what  Christianity  is.  Is 
it  the  Christianity  of  Christ  which  is  to 
reform  the  world,  or  is  it  the  Christianity 
of  the  Middle  Ages  which  is  to  do  it  ?  Or 
is  it  the  Christianity  of  Mr.  Spurgeon,  or 
of  Mr.  Moody,  or  of  Dr.  Pusey,  or  of  Dr. 
Bloose  ?  Or  has  this  new  teacher  who 
has  come  to  live  here  lately  got  a  new 
form  of  Christianity  which  he  alone  knows 
all  about?  Supposing  we  all  follow  him 
and  become  Christians,  according  to  his 
gospel,  how  are  we  to  know  that  the  Bishop 
of  London  will  not  come  down  upon  us  and 
32 


A  LECTURE 

say,    '  That's  not  Christianity  at  all  ;  you 
havegot  hold  of  the  wrong  thing  altogether.' 

"Lut  granting  that  the  Christianity 
^vhich  we  are  asked  to  accept  is  the 
Christianity  of  Christ  pure  and  simple, 
I  immediately  proceed  to  ask  my  friend 
to  show  us  how  it's  done.  I  look  in 
vain  for  the  example  of  a  Christ-like 
Christian.  We  people  down  here  in  East 
London  are  looked  upon  as  unchristian, 
so  I  will  not  expect  to  find  what  I  want 
here.  But  I  will  look  at  some  of  these 
\Vest-end  Churches  or  these  Universities, 
who  profess  to  have  got  hold  of  some- 
thing which  they  are  kind  enough  to  wish 
to  send  us  down  here.  If  this  is  not  so, 
why  do  they  establish  these  Missions  and 
settlements  at  considerable  cost  to  them- 
selves ?  But  where  are  the  poverty  and 
simplicity,  where  is  the  hatred  of  sham 
and  hypocrisy,  where  is  the  love  of  the 
outcast,  which  ought  surely  to  be  found 
in  the  followers  of  the  Carpenter  of 
Nazareth  ? 

"I  challenge  my  friend  to  show  me  a 
C  33 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


single  man  or  woman  among  the  fashion- 
able Church  congregations  in  the  West- 
end,  or  in  the  academic  circles  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  (whence  these  Missions 
come),  a  single  man  or  woman,  I  say,  who 
is  living  a  life  at  all  like  Christ's,  or  who 
is  even  attempting  to  carry  out  certain  of 
the  commands  of  their  Master  which  I 
shall  be  ready  to  enumerate  if  required. 
Where  is  there  a  man,  for  instance,  who 
has  given  up  all  that  he  possesses  for 
the  sake  of  Christianity  ?  Where  is  there  a 
man  who  has  forsaken  father  and  mother 
and  lands  for  the  sake  of  what  Christ  calls 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ?  No,  my  friends, 
we  cannot  be  Christians  ! 

"  But  perhaps  my  opponent  would 
answer,  as  in  fact  I  did  hear  a  Bishop 
say  the  other  day :  '■  You  have  no  right 
to  argue  against  Christianity  from  the 
failure  of  Christians.  You  must  show 
that  Christianity  itself  is  a  failure.' 

"  Very  well,  I  am  prepared  to  maintain 
that    too.      First,     my    friends,     consider 
what  it  is  that   Christianity  claims  to  be 
34 


A  LECTURE 


able  to  do.  These  Christian  Socialists 
tell  us  that  our  plans  for  social  reform  will 
fail  because  we  take  no  account  of  the 
moral  reformation  which  is  necessary 
before  any  change  of  circumstances  will 
avail.  In  a  word,  we  must  wait  till  a  man 
is  good  before  we  make  him  com- 
fortable. Personally,  I  think  it  would  be 
better  to  reverse  the  process.  Let  us 
make  him  comfortable,  give  him  a  decent 
home,  leisure  and  a  moderate  wage,  and 
then  perhaps  he  will  be  good.  However, 
let  us  examine  ihe  Christian  argument. 
They  say  in  effect,  'Give  the  people  to  us, 
we  will  make  them  good  :  if  they  are  not 
good,  all  your  social  reforms  will  fail.' 
Well,  now,  before  we  hand  over  the 
people  to  the  tender  care  of  Mother 
Church,  my  friends,  1  want  to  have  some 
guarantee  that  she  is  likely  to  succeed  in 
what  she  claims  to  be  able  to  do.  I  look 
back  into  past  history,  and  I  do  not 
jfind  that  the  world  progressed  more 
satisfactorily  when  the  Church  held  full 
sway  over  it.      I  look  into  recent  social 

35 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


history,  do  I  find  that  reforms  have  been 
initiated  by  the  Church?  Not  a  bit  of  it. 
More  often  than  not  the  Church  has  op- 
posed them.  What  social  reforms  have  my 
lords,  the  Bishops,  ever  proposed  ?  1  might 
add,  *  What  have  they  not  opposed  ? ' 
It  is  true  that  individual  Christians,  like 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  have  done  good  social 
work,  but  he  was  not  the  Church. 

"  The  fact  is,  my  friends,  that  Christian- 
ity has  had  its  chance  and  has  missed  the 
mark.  We  gave  it  free  play  once,  and  it 
came  off  blank.  Some  of  us  got  burnt  in 
the  process  by  this  social  reforming  agency. 
Are  we  so  very  unreasonable  if  we  turn 
round  now  and  say,  'Never  again,  my 
friends ;  you  have  had  your  opportunity 
and  you  have  shown  that  your  system  is  a 
fraud  and  a  delusion.  Henceforth,  we 
turn  to  other  helpers :  The  State,  the 
Voice  of  the  People,  the  discoveries  of 
Science.  These  are  our  guiding  lights. 
We  do  not  need  you!'  Don't  be  taken  in, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  by  the  specious 
proposals  of  these  so-called  Christian 
36 


A  LKCTURK 

Socialists  who  talk  about  Christ,  the  poor 
working-man,  who  had  not  where  to  lay 
his  head,  while  they  themselves,  who 
claim  to  represent  Him,  have  never  been 
without  a  comfortable  bed  in  their  lives. 
Let  them  show  us  what  He  was  like,  and 
then,  perhaps,  we  may  listen  ;  but  even 
then  the  Christianity  which  they  propose 
for  us  must  be  something  very  different 
from  the  Christianity  of  the  past,  if  it  is  to 
solve  the  problem." 

"  He's  very  wrong  and  very  right," 
thought  Stephen,  as  he  walked  back  to 
the  Vicarage.  "What  if,  after  all,  our 
Missions  are  wrongly  directed  ?  Ought  we 
to  go  to  the  West-end?  But  surely  our 
Lord  would  have  us  preach  to  the  poor  ? 
Yes,  but  how  can  we  preach  Him  until 
we  know  Him  better?  'Can  the  blind 
lead  the  blind  ;  shall  they  not  both  fall 
into  the  ditch  ? 


7  )i 


37 


IV 

WESTWARD  HO! 

The  Marquis  of  St.  Alphege  possessed  no 
charms  of  his  own.  He  was  ugly,  sour, 
and  foul-mouthed.  He  was  a  Tory  of  the 
old  school,  and  had  an  apoplectic  fit  on 
hearing  that  a  Conservative  Government 
had  granted  Free  Education  to  the  masses. 
He  recovered  from  the  fit,  but  he  would 
never  read  the  newspaper  again,  nor  go  to 
the  House  of  Lords.  His  language  had 
always  been  unparliamentary,  his  whole  life 
thenceforth  became  so.  The  nation,  it 
must  be  confessed,  seemed  to  have  lost 
little,  when  this  hereditary  law-maker 
ceased  to  impress  the  red  leather  cushions 
of  the  Upper  House.  His  lordship  had 
however,  other  possessions,  to  wit,  a  hand- 
some wife,  thirty  years  younger  than  him- 
38 


WESTWARD  HO! 


self,  and  a  magnificent  mansion  in  Chelsea 
Square.  The  Marchioness  was  a  leader 
in  Society  ;  but,  mark  you,  not  of  Society. 
She  had  a  set  of  her  own  choosing,  and 
only  these  ever  passed  within  the  portals 
of  Alphege  House. 

They  were  an  interesting  set :  there  was 
a  Broad  Church  Dean,  a  High    Church 
Canon,  the  Secretary  of  an    unsectarian 
Orphanage,  and  the  Actor-Manager  of  the 
Grand   Theatre;    while   for   ladies,  there 
were   the   Lady   Warden   of  the  Ladies' 
Settlement  in  Wapping,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Ladies'  League,  the  Duchess  of  Lundy 
and  Dr.  Frances  Deane.     Besides  these 
more   prominent  ones,  there  were  lesser 
lights,  most  of  them  men  and  women  with 
fads.     Her  ladyship  dearly  loved  a  fad. 
She  would  spend  hours  of  an  afternoon  on 
her  sofa,   listening  to  the  latest  ideas  of 
the  latest  faddist,  and  remarking  at  inter- 
vals:  ''Dear  me,  how  intensely  interest- 
ing.   I  must  introduce  you  to  the  Dean ; 
he  will  be  so  charmed  with  your  idea." 
Quite   wrongly,  though    somewhat   ex- 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


cusably,   the    Marchioness   reckoned   hei 
nephew  Stephen  among  this  curious  army 
of  fad-mongers.     "  You   ought  to  know 
my    nephew,    Mr.   Remarx,   he   is   quite 
supernaturally  clever,  he  has  such  original 
ideas ;    though  I  must  confess  he  wears 
the  most  sacrilegious  trousers ;  I  wish  he 
would  go  to  Alfy's  tailor  in  Conduit  Street." 
In  spite  of  his  dress,  the  Marchioness 
really   loved   her    nephew    with    all    the 
affection  that  a  shallow  nature  can  bestow. 
She  saw,  with  the  instinct  of  a  fashionable 
leader,    that    he   was   likely   to   cause    a 
sensation,  if   cautiously   introduced    into 
London  society.     Her  opportunity  came 
when  the  important  living  of  St.  Mark  and 
the  Angels  fell  vacant  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Oldskin.     The  benefice  was  in  the  gift  of 
the   Marquis  of  St.  Alphege,   the   parish 
being,  in   fact,   almost  co-extensive  with 
his  property  in  Chelsea. 

"Alfy,  dear,"  said  the  Marchioness  to 
her  lord  at  breakfast,  "  when  you  have 
finished  your  kidneys,  will  you  listen  to 

me?" 
40 


WESTWARD  110 1 


"  Go  on,"  said  the  venerable  peer. 

"Have  you  thought  of  any  one  for  St. 
Mark's  yet,  Alfy?"  Her  ladyship  knew 
how  to  manage  him.  It  was  her  way  to 
make  him  think  he  was  the  master  and 
not  she. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Marquis,  handling  a  pile 
of  letters.  "  I  have  here  applications  from 
two  hundred  and  twenty  parsons  for  the 
place  ;  everybody  seems  to  want  it.  One 
blackguard  is  certainly  more  candid  than 
the  rest.  He  says  he  can't  pay  his  bills,  and 
his  wife's  a  confirmed  invalid,  and  his  eldest 
boy's  in  debt,  and  will  I  help  him  out  of  his 
financial  difficulties  by  making  him  Vicar 
of  St.  Mark's.  Upon  my  honour,  I've  a 
good  mind  to  give  it  him,  if  only  because 
of  such  a  straightforward  declaration  of 
his  object.  There's  another  one  here  I 
like,  who  says  he's  a  thorough-going  Tory, 
and  thinks  the  Primrose  League  much 
too  democratic,  and  that  he  has  proved 
beyond  question  that  Babylon  in  the 
Apocalypse  is  a  prophecy  of  the  London 
County  Council.*'   The  Marquis  gobbled 

4« 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


a  piece  of  pate  defoie  gras  on  toast  and 
stopped.  Then  the  Marchioness  began 
to  play  her  cards. 

"  Have  you  thought  of  Stephen,  in  con- 
nection with  the  post  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  say  I  have,"  said  his  lord- 
ship, "but  he's  very  well  provided  for, 
isn't  he?  I  never  bother  myself  about 
him." 

Then  out  came  her  ladyship's  trumps. 
She  represented  that  for  the  honour  of 
the  family  Stephen  ought  to  be  a  rector, 
that  it  was  absurd  for  an  "Honourable"  to 
be  a  curate  in  the  slums ;  that  the  reports 
about  his  being  High  Church  were  not 
well  founded ;  that  he  quite  believed  in 
the  Lincoln  Judgment ;  that  there  was 
no  real  proof  that  he  was  a  Radical  or  a 
Socialist.  The  Marchioness  very  nearly 
choked  when  she  said  this,  for  it  was 
only  three  days  before,  that  Stephen  had 
actually  advised  her  to  read  the  "  Fabian 
Essays,"  and  had  described  to  her  how  he 
had  taken  the  chair  at  a  "Progressive" 
meeting  in  Clerkenwell. 
4a 


WESTWARD  HO 


"  Well,  hang  it,"  said  the  Marquis  with 
a  levity  scarcely  consistent  with  the 
sacred  duty  of  appointing  a  spiritual 
father  for  twelve  thousand  souls,  "  hang  it, 
I  don't  care  who  has  the  beastly  living : 
all  parsons  are  equally  cussed  in  my  eyes, 
nowadays."  The  rest  of  the  sentence 
contained  so  many  bad  words  that  it  has 
been  thought  better  not  to  reproduce  it. 

"  May  I  write  and  ask  Stephen  ?  '* 
said  the  Marchioness. 

"  You  may  do  anything  you  con- 
founded like."  This  elegant  phrase 
decided  the  spiritual  prospects  of  the 
twelve  thousand  parishioners,  and  the 
triumphant  peeress  retired  to  her  boudoir 
to  pen  the  following  letter,  remarkable 
alike  for  its  grammar  and  gush  : 

"  My  very  dear  Ste. 

"  I  have  a  very  delicious  pleasure 
in  having  to  write  and  tell  you,  that  the 
old  'Markis'  offers  you  the  living  of 
St.  Mark's.  Of  course  you  will  take  it. 
It  is  very  much  better  than  where  you  are. 

43 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


It  is  worth  ;£8oo  a  year,  and  there  is  a 
good  rectory.  Of  course,  Oldskin's  fur- 
niture is  bad,  and  his  taste  was  execrable, 
but  Maples  will  make  that  all  right.  I 
should  have  a  light  blue  damask  paper  in 
the  drawing-room,  and  get  rid  of  that 
spotted  linoleum  on  the  staircase.  You 
must  have  four  curates.  I  think  the 
Bishop  has  some  fund  that  will  pay  for 
them.  They  will  do  what  I  call  the 
drudgery  of  the  work.  You  must  of 
course  keep  yourself  for  preaching  on 
Sunday.  Fancy  how  splendid  to  have 
you  taking  the  town  by  storm.  1  w^ould 
have  a  short  service  at  half-past  eleven,  if 
I  were  you,  just  an  anthem  or  something, 
and  then  a  spicy  sermon  full  of  all  sorts 
of  good  advice  about  our  weaknesses ; 
the  dear  Duchess  of  Lundy  is  so  fond  of 
that  sort  of  thing,  don't  you  know,  and  so 
am  I  for  the  matter  of  that,  and  then  we 
could  get  into  the  Park  by  a  quarter  to 
one,  and  get  the  luncheon  party  well 
begun  before  two,  which  I  always  think  is 
so  important.  I  must  not  go  on  like  tiiis 
44 


WESTWARD  IIO! 


or  I  shall  tire  you.  Now,  mind  you  say 
yes.  If  you  like  to  come  and  see  me,  I 
have  got  Chevallier  la  Trobe  to  tea  at 
4.30  to-morrow.  He  has  got  a  new 
idea  about  having  a  psychological  Con- 
gress. Do  come  and  we  can  talk  about 
St.  Mark's.  By-the-bye  I  believe  the  drains 
want  looking  at. 

*'  Yours  most  affectionately, 

"  Aunt  Alf. 

"P-S.— I    think    the    pews    bring    in 
another  ;£2oo,  but  I'm  not  sure." 

Thus  it  was  that  Stephen    became  the 
Rector  of  St.  Mark's. 


45 


V 

THE  DOCKER 

It  was  the  "  Sing  song "  night  at  the 
Wapping  "  Tee-to-tum."  A  "Tee-to-tum  " 
may  be  shortly  described  as  a  Working 
Men's  Club  without  alcohol,  a  Res- 
taurant without  bad  coffee,  and  a  Tea 
Shop  without  tea  dust.  You  can  gene- 
rally depend  upon  getting  your  money's 
worth  if  you  go  to  a  "Tee-to-tum," 
though  the  music  that  night  was  not  of 
a  very  high  class  character.  The  per- 
formers, it  is  true,  belonged  to  the  very 
highest  classes :  there  was  more  than 
one  titled  lady  and  gentleman  among 
them,  but  somehow  they  had  concocted  a 
curious  programme.  The  banjo  songs 
were  not  exactly  bad,  but  neither  were  they 
refined,  the  skirt -dancing  by  Lady  Blanche 
46 


THE  DOCKER 


Breczer  was,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  rathei 
queer,  while  the  comic  songs  condescend- 
ingly read  by  the  Hon.  Arthur  Jones  were, 
strange    to    say,  the    very    same,    which 
**  Geoffrey    Crump    the    Inimitable "  had 
sung  at  the  '*  Paragon  "  the  night  before, 
at  least  so  the  boys  at  the  back  of  the 
hall   said.     Now,  if  you  had  gone  to  the 
Wellington  Club  that  night  at  12  o'clock, 
and  asked  these  ladies  and  gentlemen,  as 
they  sat  at  supper  discussing  champagne 
and  oysters,  how  they  had  occupied  the 
earlier   part  of  the  evening,  they  would 
have  told  you  no  doubt   that   they  had 
been     "  elevating     the     masses  ! "     Poor 
dears  !    and  yet  they  meant   well.     "  It's 
so   good    for   the    people    to    come    in 
contact   with  our  class,"  the  Duchess  of 
Lundy  had   said  to  Lady  Blanche  :    "  do 
try  and  get  up  a  Concert  for  them  down 
at  Wapping,   you    can    manage   it   easily 
after    Ascot    is    over,     only    take    care, 
my  dear,  that  you  put  on  an  old    gown, 
you   might  catch  something."     Thus  the 
Concert  came  off.     And  it  produced  one 

47 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


important  result.  It  led  two  men  to  con* 
verse  with,  and  to  get  to  know  one 
another,  who  before  had  been  but  slightly 
acquainted.  These  were  Paul  Durnford 
and  John  Oxenham.  They  sat  in  the 
concert-room,  and  submitted  themselves 
to  the  process  known  as  "elevation." 

Paul  Durnford  had  been  one  of 
Stephen's  companions  at  Oxford.  His 
father  was  a  carpenter  in  Dorsetshire,  and 
Paul  had  worked  his  way  up  by  sheer  hard 
labour.  He  had  won  numberless  Scholar- 
ships, and  had  earned  enough  to  keep 
him  at  Oxford  until  he  took  a  First  Class 
in  Modern  History.  At  the  period  of  the 
Wapping  concert,  he  was  staying  in  East 
London  at  one  of  the  University  Settle- 
ments, in  order  to  become  acquainted 
with  "the  people."  He  had  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  appointed  head  li- 
brarian to  a  new  public  library,  then 
being  built  in  one  of  the  East-End 
parishes,  and  he  was  in  the  happy  posi- 
tion of  having  the  prospect  of  plenty  of 
useful  work  to  do,  and  a  sufficient  income. 
48 


THE  DOCKER 


His  neiiihhoiir  in  the  concert-room  was 
a  dock  labourer.  John  Oxenham  had 
been  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  great  Dock 
strike,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being 
very  "advanced"  in  his  views.  It  was 
quite  by  chance  that  he  had  strolled  into 
the  "Tee-to-tum"  that  night,  and  taken  his 
seat  by  the  side  of  Paul. 

"  This  sort  of  thing  won't  solve  the 
social  problem,  will  it  ? "  said  Oxenham 
bluntly  to  his  neighbour.  They  had  met 
before,  at  the  time  of  the  strike,  when  Paul 
was  occupied  in  giving  out  grocery  tickets 
to  the  dockers'  wives. 

"No,  I  don't  think  it  will,"  said  Paul, 
as  Lady  Blanche  entered  upon  the  last 
verse  of  "  Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay." 

"  What  fools  the  men  are,"  said  Oxen- 
ham, "  to  believe  in  these  aristocrats  :  it's 
all  chloroform,  that's  what  it  is." 

"  Chloroform,  what  do  you  mean  by 
that  ?  "  inquired  Durnford. 

'•Why,  I  mean  just  this,"  said  the  other, 
*'  these  nobs  are  in  a  mortal  funk  of  us 
workers.  That  there  Lady  Blanche  and 
D  49 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


her  Jezebel  of  a  mother,  the  Duchess,  are 
Dames  of  the  Primrose  League :  now, 
they  think  if  they  can  keep  us  quiet  by 
giving  us  concerts  and  tea-meetings,  we 
shall  be  induced  to  rest  content  and  say 
nothing,  while  they  are  up  to  their  larks 
in  the  West-end.  It's  chloroform  to 
keep  us  asleep,  that's  what  it  is.  But 
it's  too  late,"  said  the  Strike  leader  half 
starting  to  his  feet,  with  his  eyes  gleaming, 
as  if  he  would  like  to  storm  the  platform  ; 
"  it's  too  late,  they  ought  to  have  thought 
of  it  long  ago,  if  they  wanted  it  to  succeed, 
they  ought  to  have  thought  of  it  before 
the  Education  Act,  and  before  we  got  the 
vote :  we  don't  want  their  soup  tickets.  I 
hate  these  West-end  Missionaries  and 
Settlements.  Settlements  indeed !  the  very 
word  suggests  that  we  are  savages." 

"  Knocked  'em  in  the  Old  Kent  Road," 
screamed  Lady  Blanche,  with  a  bewitching 
curl  of  her  blue-blooded  lip,  and  sat  down 
amid  roars  of  applause. 

"  I  can't  stand  it,"  said  Oxenham, 
"come  outside,  Mr.  Durnford,  and  let's 
50 


THE  DOCKER 


have  a  walk,   the   very   air   here  chokes 
me. 

They  walked  down  the  street  together 
in  silence.  "  Don't  you  think,"  said  Paul 
at  last,  "  that  you  are  a  little  hard  on  us  ?  " 

*'  Hard  on  you  ?  "  said  Oxenham,  with 
a  look  of  disgust,  "  why,  you  surely  don't 
class  yourself  with  that  gang,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Well,  no,  not  exactly,"  said  Paul,  "  but 
still  I  am  an  Oxford  man,  and  I  am  one  of 
those  who,  in  a  humble  way,  are  trying  to 
contribute  something  towards  the  solution 
of  the  social  problem,  and  I  belong,  you 
know,  to  one  of  those  '  Settlements  '  about 
which  you  talked  so  disparagingly  just 
now." 

Oxenham  looked  at  Paul,  and  said  quite 
calmly,  and  with  an  earnestness,  that  his 
companion  had  not  noticed  in  his  former 
utterances,  "  Mr.  Durnford,  you're  as  dif- 
ferent from  that  painted  step-dancer,  as  that 
full  moon  yonder  is  from  a  dinner-plate." 

Paul  said  nothing.  His  companion 
went  on :  "I  have  been  face  to  face  with 
the  social  problem  now,  for  many  years. 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


I  have  felt  the  injustice  of  our  social  sys- 
tem as  much  as  any  man  alive.  I  have 
seen  both  sides,  for  I  used  to  live  on  the 
estate  of  a  rich  lord.  My  father  was  his 
gardener.  I  did  odd  jobs  in  the  house, 
and  I  know  how  the  aristocracy  live. 
Their  feeding  arrangements,  alone,  would 
drive  me  into  socialism.  Four  square 
meals  a  day,  if  you  please,  for  my  lord's 
family,  while  the  poor  dockers,  out  of 
whose  labour  my  lord  gets  his  screw,  for 
you  must  know  he's  a  large  shareholder, 
both  in  docks  and  ships,  the  poor  dockers, 
I  say,  are  literally  starving.  My  lord 
seldom  spoke  of  the  dockers,  except  to  call 
them  a  '  drunken,  lazy  lot.'  Mr.  Durnford, 
I  have  seen  my  lord's  own  sons  the  worse 
for  liquor,  I  have  seen  them  play  cards 
for  money  until  4  a.m.,  I  have  known 
them  lie  in  bed  till  noon,  I  have  never 
known  them  to  do  an  hour's  useful  work 
for  the  good  of  mankind  in  their  lives." 

"  May  I  speak?  "  said  Paul,  for  he  felt 
that  his  companion  was  having  it  too  much 
his  own  way  :  "I  too  can    speak  from  ex* 
52 


TIIK  DOCKER 


perience  :  I  too  am    a  poor  man   the  son 
of  a  carpenter." 

"I  respect  you  for  that,"  said  Oxenham, 
taking  off  his  hat  quite  seriously,  and  not 
in  play. 

Paul  continued:"!  have  seen  many 
good  and  kind  rich  people.  Is  it  not  better 
in  discussing  social  problems  to  keep  from 
personalities,  and  to  stick  to  principles  ? 
There  are  good  and  bad  people  on  both 
sides.  There  are  drunken  dockers,  but 
there  are  respectable  ones  too,  as  I  can 
vouch  for,  just  as  there  are  drunken  and 
dissolute  sons  of  peers,  and  some  very 
good  ones  also.  The  attack  must  be  made 
on  the  system,  not  on  the  persons  who 
are  the  victims  of  it." 

"  You  are  right,  Mr.  Durnford,  but  my 
blood  was  up  ;  you  see  it  was  those  young 
lordlings  that  I  knew  in  my  youth,  who 
first  started  me  on  the  socialistic  war  path, 
and  I  can't  forget  them." 

"  Well,  forget  them  now,"  said  Paul 
"  and  let's  talk  deeper.  Don't  you  think 
that  sympathy  between  classes  is   the  very 

53 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


first  thing  to  be  established  before  any  of 
this  brushwood  of  injustice  and  inequaUty 
can  be  cleared  away  ?  Now,  it  is  just 
this  sympathy  which  these  settlements 
and  these  social  gatherings  have  done  so 
much  to  foster.  Lady  Blanche  Breezer 
may  have  rather  a  vulgar,  boisterous  way 
of  showing  her  sympathy,  but  I  daresay  she 
has  a  good  heart." 

"  Don't  talk  to  me  of  that  woman,** 
growled  John,  "  we'll  leave  her  out  if  you 
please  ;  you  said  just  now  we  were  to  keep 
from  personalities,  and  her  ladyship's  per- 
sonality is  just  what  I  can't  abide.  Now,  I 
daresay  I  may  have  been  wrong  about  the 
settlements.  If  all  these  philanthropists  were 
like  yourself,  I  should  not  mind.  Yours  is 
a  genuine  sympathy,  because  you  are  a  poor 
man  yourself.  Nobody  can  sympathise 
unless  he  has  really  experienced  the  suffer- 
ings of  those  whom  he  proposes  to  compas- 
sionate. I,  for  instance,  have  often  been 
hungry  myself,  and  that's  why  I  could  lead 
the  strike." 

"  Oxenham,"  said  Durnford  seriously, 
"  in  that  last  sentence  of  yours  you  have 

54- 


THE  DOCKER 


touched   upon  what  I  bchcve   to   be  the 
very  key  of  the  social  problem." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?"  said  John. 

**I  mean  that  when  you  talk  of  the 
necessity  of  sympathy,  you  suggest  to  me 
the  thought  of  Christianity,  the  religion 
which  centres  round  One  whose  very  life 
was  sympathy  itself." 

"  Are  you  a  Christian  ? "  asked  the 
docker.  "  I  mean,  a  real  Christian — not 
one  of  these  sham  ones  who  cover  the 
face  of  the  earth." 

"  I  am  trying:  to  be,"  said  Paul,  in  a 
simple,  unaffected  way. 

"But  does  your  religion,"  said  Oxen- 
ham,  "  help  you  at  all  in  your  social 
aspirations?  It  always  seems  to  me  such 
an  unpractical  afiair ;  the  clergy  are  always 
talking  about  Heaven  above  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing.     I  call  them  sky  pilots." 

"Do  you  know  Mr.  Remarx?"  said 
Paul  abruptly. 

"  No,"  said  John. 

"I  wish  you  did,"  said  Durnford,  "I 
will  take  you  next  Sunday  to  hear  him 
preach." 

55 


VI 

IN  THE  WILDERNESS 

Stephen  certainly  created  a  sensation, 
though  hardly  in  the  way  the  Mar- 
chioness had  contemplated.  There  were 
several  strict  rules  he  made  for  himself, 
which  did  not  at  all  suit  his  aunt's  ideas 
of  what  a  popular  preacher  ought  to  do 
and  to  be.  He  absolutely  refused  ever  to 
come  to  her  Sunday  luncheon  parties. 
This  she  consoled  herself  about  by  say- 
ing to  the  Duchess  :  "  Well,  my  dear,  at 
any  rate  we  shall  be  able  to  talk  about  the 
sermon  better  in  my  nephew's  absence  ! " 
But  then  he  so  often  could  not  come 
even  to  dinner  or  tea.  In  the  afternoons 
he  wanted  to  visit  the  poor,  and  in  the 
evenings  he  would  insist  on  looking  after 
his  gymnasium.  "My  dear  Ste,"  Aunt 
56 


IN  THE  WILDERNESS 


Alfy  would  say,  "you'll  s'luply  kill  your- 
self. Dr.  Oldskin  never  did  that  kind  of 
work,  and  he  came  of  quite  a  low  family. 
I  believe  his  mother  was  a  laundress. 
Now,  if  he  did  not  work,  wliy  need  you  ?  " 
Stephen  would  then  gently  remind  her 
that  there  were  no  less  than  eight  thousand 
poor  people  in  St.  Mark's  parish,  or  he 
would  read  her  portions  of  the  Ordination 
Service  to  impress  upon  her  his  respon- 
sibilities. Then  she  would  try  another 
tack.  "  My  dear,  you  must  remember 
that  you  have  a  duty  towards  the  rich 
members  of  your  parish,  you  seem  to 
forget  them.  I  always  say,  we  rich  people 
want  quite  as  much  looking  after  as  the 
lower  classes."  "And  a  great  deal  more, 
sometimes !  "  thought  Stephen,  but  he 
would  answer  her  thus  aloud,"  x\unt  Alfy, 
I  don't  think  you  quite  understand  the 
nature  of  a  clergyman's  work.  I  have  but 
one  object,  namely,  to  preach  and  to  teach 
Christ.  Now,  my  method  of  doing  this 
with  poor  and  rich  may  differ  a  little  accord- 
ing to  circumstances.    In  the  first  place,  I 

57 


STEPHEN  REMARK 


find  them  in  very  different  attitudes  towards 
Christianity  by  reason  of  their  opportunities. 
Most  of  my  rich  parishioners  have  had 
the  Gospel  preached  to  them,  and  have 
learnt  their  Catechism,  while  most  of  my 
poor  people  have  hardly  heard  it  at  all,  or 
are  deeply  prejudiced  against  the  Church 
itself.  And  so  it  comes,  that  with  one  set 
of  persons  my  work  is  to  break  down 
prejudice  or  to  attract  them  into 
Church,  while  with  the  other,  it  is  to 
get  them  to  carry  out  in  practice  the 
religion  they  already  know  about,  but 
whose  principles  they  have  no  desire  to 
apply  to  life." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  the  Mar- 
chioness, vacantly. 

"  Let  me  then  give  you  a  few  examples. 
Take  such  a  man  as  Sir  Henry  Dyvese. 
He  is  the  Chairman  of  the  '  National 
Security  Match  Company.'  He  is  a 
nominal  Christian,  who  gives  at  least 
eighteenpence  to  the  collection  on 
Sunday,  and  believes  in  the  great  im- 
portance of  an  Established  Church.  It  is 
58 


IN  TIIK  WILDERNESS 


true  he  never  kneels  down,  but  he  says 
very  fervently,  after  each  of  the  ten 
commandments,  'Incline  our  hearts  to 
keep  this  law.*  But  for  all  this,  he  won't 
move  a  finger  to  remedy  the  grievances  of 
the  girls  he  employs.  Four  of  these  girls 
last  week  were  suffering  from  a  sore 
mouth,  which  comes  from  making  matches 
in  a  way  that  might  be  avoided.  Their 
wages,  too.  would  hardly  pay  for  the  keep 
of  Lady  Dyvese's  collie  ;  and  yet  the 
ordinary  shareholders  are  receiving  1 5  per 
cent." 

"  I  really  do  not  see  what  this  has  to  do 
with  religion,"  said  her  ladyship,  almost 
pettishly. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  said  Stephen.  "  My 
duty  is  somehow  or  other  to  bring  it  home 
to  Sir  Henry,  that  his  religion  requires 
him  to  look  into  these  matters,  and  that 
he  might  just  as  well  be  a  Mohammedan, 
if  he  does  not.  In  fact,  I  said  as  much 
to  him  the  other  day." 

"  What  did  he  say  ?  "  asked  the  Aunt. 

"  He  laughed,  and  said  that  the  clergy 

59 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


were  notoriously  bad  men  of  business,  and 
had  better  not  interfere  where  they  were 
not  wanted." 

"A  very  good   answer,"   laughed  the 
Marchioness. 

"  It  satisfied  him,"  said  Stephen  sternly, 
*'  but  it  did  not  satisfy  me.  However,  let's 
take  another  case — a  more  general  one. 
All  you  ladies  are  very  particular  about 
having  your  dresses  made  to  time ;  some- 
times you  give  the  poor  dressmaker  very 
little  time  in  which  to  execute  your  orders, 
or  you  haggle  over  the  price  of  things,  and 
clutch  at  what  is  cheap.  Now,  does  it 
never  strike  you  that  you  are  really  re- 
sponsible for  the  excessively  long  hours 
during  which  some  poor  people  have  to 
slave,  and  for  the  low  wages  they  are  paid, 
and  for  the  bad  conditions  under  which 
some  of  them  have  to  work  ?  Do  you  know, 
for  instance,  that  at  Smith  and  Jobley's 
shop,  where,  I  believe,  you  get  many  of 
your  things,  the  shop-girls  are  never 
allowed  to  sit  down,  and  that  they  work 
ninety  hours  a  week?  Only  last  night,  I  was 
60 


IN  THK  WILDERNESS 


at  the  dcath-bcd  of  a  poor  girl  who  used 
to  work  there.  She  is  dying  of  consump- 
tion, brought  on  simply  by  her  hard  work." 

"  Oh,  well,  of  course  I  think  that's  all 
very  dreadful,"  said  the  poor  Marchioness, 
who  was  beginning  to  feel  quite  un- 
comfortable, "but  I  cannot  do  anything; 
Alfy  says  that  political  economy  teaches 
us  that  we  must  let  things  go  on,  and  that 
you  cannot  fight  against  what  he  calls  the 
*iron  laws.'  I  don't  know  what  he 
means,  but  dear  Ste,  do  take  some  port 
wine  to  that  poor  girl." 

"  She  has  all  she  wants  in  that  way," 

said  Stephen  seriously,  and  then  looking 

earnestly  at  his  worldly  aunt,  he  went  on  : 

"  Aunt  Alfy,  I  know  you  have  a  good  kind 

heart  ;    I  know  you  want  to   help  those 

poor   people,  but    I    am   convinced  that 

something  more  is  wanted  than  the  giving 

of  material   aid.     We   must  change  our 

lives,  we  must  give  ourselves  for  them,  and 

not  only  our  money  to  them  ;  we  must,  in 

fact,  live  as  Christ  lived,  yes,  even  here 

in  this  nineteenth-century  London.     Deai 

6i 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


Aunt,  will  you  help  me?  Will  you  try 
with  me  ?  "  He  said  this  in  a  tremulous, 
hesitating  voice,  only  too  conscious  that 
such  an  appeal  would  be  quite  lost  on  his 
fashionable  relation. 

"  My  dear  boy,  I  can  make  no  pro- 
mises." 

Fortunately,  at  this  moment  the  lun- 
cheon-bell rang  and  the  Marchioness  went 
to  wash  her  hands. 

*'  I  can  make  no  promises  ! "  mused 
Stephen.  "But  she  has  made  them  already, 
and  so  have  I.  We  promised  at  our  baptism 
to  renounce  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil.    What  are  we  doing  to  keep  them  ?  " 

It  may  seem  surprising  that  Stephen 
should  have  spoken  thus  seriously  to  his 
aunt.  One  might  have  thought  that  he 
would  have  looked  for  more  earnest 
spirits,  before  whom  to  cast  his  pearls. 
The  truth  was  that  Stephen  had  made 
few  friends.  He  was  living  a  solitary  life. 
Crowds,  it  is  true,  came  to  his  church,  but 
at  present  they  just  came  and  wen* 
away.       They  discussed   his   sermons  ir 

62 


IN  THE  WILDERNESS 


private ;  some  tried  to  pick  to  pieces  his 
startling  theories,  some  i)ondered  over 
them  alone.  Old-fashioned  Church  people 
began  by  having  uneasy  thoughts  that 
perhaps  he  might  be  right,  but  they  gene- 
rally ended  by  settling  satisfactorily  to  their 
own  consciences  that  his  eccentric  doc- 
trines were  the  outcome  of  what  they  called 
his  "hot-headed  youth."  The  younger 
people,  especially  the  young  men  who 
came  in  considerable  numbers  on  Sunday 
mornings,  were  more  deeply  impressed  by 
what  he  said.  Some  of  them  who  had 
been  sceptically  inclined  at  first  would 
say  :  "  Well,  if  Christianity  is  what  Remarx 
says  it  is,  there  is  much  more  in  it  than 
ever  I  dreamt  of."  This  attractive  power 
of  Stephen  was  not  because  he  compro- 
mised his  faith  or  made  his  message  palat- 
able to  his  hearers.  No  one  was  more 
orthodox  or  unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to 
the  grand  supernatural  truths  of  the  Chris- 
tian Creed.  Rather  it  was  because  he  made 
the  Creed  a  living  thing,  entering  into  all 
the  details  of  every-day  human  life,  showing 

63 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


men  how  in  every  age  Truth,  while  re- 
maining unaltered  itself,  meets  the  needs 
of  each  successive  generation. 

The  young  barrister  would  go  from  St. 
Mark's  on  Sunday  to  his  chambers  on 
Monday,  or  the  stockbroker  to  the  Ex- 
change, with  a  new  idea  of  how  he  ought 
to  try  and  do  his  work.  He  would  feel 
thus  :  "  I'm  a  Christian,  somehow  or  other 
I  must  behave  as  such  to-day ;  I  am  bound 
to  love  my  neighbour  as  myself,  I  am  bound 
to  do  to  others  as  I  would  wish  them  to  do 
to  me,  I  am  bound  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God,  I  am  bound  to  be  true  and  just  in  all 
my  dealings."  When  they  came  thus  to 
apply  their  religion  to  their  daily  calling, 
they  found  it  difficult :  the  stockbroker 
began  to  wonder  whether  all  his  doings 
were  strictly  honest,  the  young  M.P. 
whether  he  ought  not  sometimes  to  consult 
his  conscience  as  well  as  the  party  Whip 
before  entering  the  lobby  :  the  landlord 
whether  after  all  he  ought  not  to  listen  to 
the  cry  of  the  poor  cotter  on  his  estate 
whose  house  was  letting  in  the  rain,  while 
64 


IN  THE  WILDERNESS 


his    own   had    just    been    refurnished   at 
enormous  cost. 

More  often  than  not,  these  men  thrust 
the  thouglits  away,  but  they  had  an  ugly 
way  of  turning  up  again.  And,  moreover, 
the  men  would  persist  in  visiting  St. 
Mark's,  and  whenever  they  went,  there 
stood  this  latter-day  prophet  in  his  pulpit, 
reading  his  Gospel,  quietly  pointing  them 
to  the  words  of  Christ,  giving  them  chap- 
ter and  verse  for  everything  he  said,  and 
then  applying  it  all.  with  relentless  logic,  to 
the  facts  of  every- day  life. 

And  yet,  at  present,  Stephen  led  a 
solitary  life.  His  hearers  seemed  to  have 
a  kind  of  awe  of  him.  Scarcely  any  one 
ventured  to  speak  to  him  about  these  things. 
A  few  wrote  him  anonymous  letters,  some 
signed  their  names  There  was  something 
weird  about  his  solitariness.  Like  a 
second  Baptist,  he  was  a  "  Voice  "  solemn 
and    alone,   crying   in    the   wilderness   of 


London  society. 


65 


VII 

CGN  VERSION 

The  first  to  break  the  spell  was  John 
Oxenham.  Ever  since  the  Sunday  even- 
ing, when  Durnford  had  first  taken  him 
to  St.  Mark's  Church,  John  had  been  a 
regular  attendant,  except  of  course  when 
he  was  engaged  at  any  of  the  Union  meet- 
ings, which  were  usually  held  on  Sundays 
Oxenham  did  not  mind  walking  all  the 
way  from  Rotherbithe  to  Chelsea  to  hear 
his  favourite  preacher.  Some  of  his  mates 
would  laugh  at  him,  and  say :  "  Well 
wonders  will  never  cease !  fancy  Jack 
going  every  Sunday,  like  a  little  girl,  to 
listen  to  a  sky  pilot  yarning  about  the  stars 
and  the  cherrybims."  And  Joe  Binks,  the 
Secularist  lecturer,  would  get  quite  angry 

with  him  and  say :  "  I  say.  Jack,  I  thought 
66 


CONVERSION 


better  of  you.  Aren't  you  aware  tliat 
Christianity  is  an  exploded  faith  ?  Don't 
you  know  that  even  the  parsons  have 
given  up  the  Bible  now  ?  Why  do  you 
waste  your  time  over  such  rubbish  ? " 
Jack  would  be  good-humoured  over  this, 
and  say  :  "  Look  here,  you  fellows,  when 
you  talk,  as  you  do,  about  Christianity  and 
all  the  rest  of  it,  you  are  talking  about 
something,  of  which  you  know  nothing. 
I  venture  to  say,  if  you  would  come  and 
hear  my  parson  up  West,  instead  of  drink- 
ing beer  down  here"  (Jack  was  a  strong 
teetotaller,  like  most  of  the  Union  lead- 
ers), *'  you  would  be  doing  a  jolly  sight 
more  good  to  yourselves :  and  as  for  our 
friend  Binks,  in  spite  of  all  his  learning,  I 
don't  think  he  knows  what  Christianity  is. 
He's  for  ever  fighting  against  something, 
which  he  calls  Christianity,  but  it  is  not 
the  Christianity  of  the  Founder.  And  as 
for  the  Bible,  so  far  from  giving  it  up,  we 
are  only  just  finding  out  what  it  all  means. 
While  Joe  Binks  has  been  puzzling  his 
head  over  Cain's  wife  and  Balaam's  ass,  I 

67 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


have  been  trying  to  find  out  what  the 
Bible  has  to  say  on  social  questions,  and 
do  you  know  there's  a  lot  more  about 
socialism  in  the  Bible  than  any  of  you 
fellows  think.  And  it's  because  my  par- 
son up  West  knows  something  about 
these  things,  and  a  good  lot  more  than 
our  friend  Joe  here,  that  I  intend  going 
every  Sunday  to  hear  him,  until  further 
notice." 

After  a  time,  however,  John  Oxenham 
was  left  in  peace  and  suffered  to  con- 
tinue his  devotions  unnoticed.  Sunday 
after  Sunday  he  would  sit  and  listen,  awed 
like  the  rest,  not  by  the  eloquence,  but 
by  the  peculiar  earnestness  and  pathos  of 
this  wonderful  priest. 

At  last,  one  All  Saints'  Day,  he  had  been 
listening  in  rapt  attention  to  an  especially 
striking  sermon  from  Stephen.  It  was  on 
the  "New  Jerusalem."  How  different 
was  this  picture  of  heaven  to  anything 
which  John  had  conceived  before.  His 
thoughts  went  back  to  an  old  print  which 
hung  in  the  coffee-shop  at  Rotherhithe.  It 
68 


CONVERSION 


had  been  presented  by  a  well-meaning 
lady  of  Low  Church  leanings.  It  was 
called  "  Heaven,"  but  it  looked  like  a 
picture  of  a  monster  Rosherville  with  a 
very  big  conservatory  in  the  background. 
Often  and  often  had  Oxenham  muttered 
to  himself,  "Well,  if  heaven  is  like  that,  I 
don't  want  to  go  there."  But  to-night, 
Mr.  Remarx  was  speaking  of  something 
very  different,  which,  nevertheless,  he 
called  *'  Heaven "  and  believed  in,  too. 
He  was  speaking  of  a  glorious  society  of 
real  human  beings,  whose  whole  heart  and 
soul  were  on  fire  for  righteousness  and 
good — men  and  women,  who,  after  honest 
hard  work,  had  entered  into  rest  and  yet 
were  not  at  rest,  because  still  all  their 
energies  were  at  work  for  good  and  right 
and  God.  And  then  he  went  on  to  show 
that  Christians  believed  that  even  here 
on  this  earth  there  could  be  a  heaven,  even 
here  and  now  this  glorious  society  was  being 
formed  of  men  and  women  who  had  given 
themselves  to  God  and  righteousness ; 
the   Kingdom    of  Heaven.     "There  are 

69 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


saints  among  us  now  ; "  said  Stephen,  "  if 
there's  a  man  in  this  Church  whose  whole 
desire  is  to  do  God's  will  on  earth  as  it  is 
in  heaven ;  if  there's  any  one  here  who 
hates  sin  and  wrong  at  all  as  God  hates 
them  ;  if  there's  any  one  who  is  prepared 
to  sutfer  pain  and  loss  for  the  sake  of 
right,  then,  even  though  his  name  be  not 
in  the  Calendar  of  the  Church,  he's  a 
saint,  'for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.' " 

"  I  must  see  that  man  to-night,"  said 
John  to  himself,  "  I  cannot  listen  any 
longer  without  knowing  him.    I  love  him." 

The  dock-labourer  buried  his  face  in 
his  hands  and  sobbed  silently,  while  the 
congregation  sang : 

•*Oh,  what  the  joy  and  the  glory  must  be. 
Those  endless  Sabbaths  the  blessed  ones 

see; 
Crown  for  the  valiant,  to  weary  ones  rest; 
God  shall  be  all  and  in  all  ever  blest." 

That  evening  after  supper  Stephen  was 
sitting  in  his  study,  when  John  Oxenham 
70 


CONVERSION 


was  suddenly  ushered   in    oy  the   maid- 
servant. 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Oxenham,"  said  the  Rector, 
"I  have  long  wished  to  know  you.  My 
friend,  Paul  Durnford,  has  told  me  so 
much  about  you,  and,  besides,  everybody 
knows  your  name." 

They  sat  and  conversed  :  the  son  of 
a  peer  and  the  son  of  a  gardener,  the 
parson  and  the  Socialist :  so  separated 
according  to  the  world's  reckoning,  but 
so  close  to  each  other  in  reality  ;  men  of 
one  heart,  of  one  aim,  each  desiring  above 
all  thinsjs  to  make  this  world  of  ours  a 
better  phce,  each  deeply  impressed  with 
the  wrongs  and  injustices  under  which 
larire  numbers  of  their  fellow-men  were 
suffering,  each  eager  to  be  up  and  doing, 
each,  yes,  each  of  them  a  "  saint "  in  the 
sense  of  that  evening's  sermon. 

"Let  me  try,"  said  John,  after  they  had 
been  talking  for  some  time,  "let  me  try 
Mr.  Remarx,  to  put  together  shortly  what 
I  seem  to  have  learnt  during  these  last 
six  months  from  your  preaching,  and  then 

71 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


will  you  tell  me  if  I  have  rightly  under- 
stood you." 

"Very   well,"    said    Stephen,  *' it    will 
interest  me  much." 

Oxenham  began:  "You  must  know 
that,  before  I  heard  you,  my  ideas  of 
Christianity  were  of  a  very  hazy  descrip- 
tion. I  was  never  an  unbeliever.  The 
secularist  lecturers  kept  me  from  that.  All 
their  'Bible  smashing'  only  made  me 
feel  more  certain,  that  a  Book  that  could 
stand  all  that,  and  yet  keep  such  a  hold 
on  all  right-thinking  people  must  be  true 
What  made  me  more  inclined  to  disbelieve 
was  the  life  of  the  average  Christian 
whom  1  met  from  time  to  time.  I  used 
to  think  to  myself,  can  a  religion  be 
divine  which  produces  so  little  result? 
I  once  worked  for  a  butcher,  who  was 
also  a  preacher.  He  used  to  say  on 
Sundays  that  he  was  '  saved '  and  could 
not  be  'plucked  out  of  the  Lord's 
hand;'  but  on  week  days  he  used  to  tell 
his  customers  that  New  Zealand  mutton 

came  from  Scotland,  and  he  was  never  very 
72 


CONVERvSION 


particular  when  manipulating  the  scales. 
Occasionally,  however,  I  came  across  a 
consistent  Christian,  and  that  kept  me  off 
atheism.  But  it  never  entered  my  head 
that  it  was  the  religion  for  me.  I  never 
thought,  until  I  heard  you,  that  I  could 
find  m  Christianity  anything  that  would 
help  me  in  my  labour  work.  Though 
perhaps  I  ought  to  mention  that,  during 
the  Dock  Strike,  I  did  think  it  good  the 
way  the  Church  people  helped  us.  The 
thought  came  across  me  once  then  that 
perhaps  they  had  some  message  to  us 
Socialists.  But  it  passed  away  for  the 
time.  Now,  since  I  have  sat  under  you, 
I  have  come  to  believe  that  without 
Christianity  the  labour  movement  is 
certain  to  fail.  First  of  all,  1  have  got  an 
inspiration  for  my  work  which  I  never 
had  before.  I  believe  that  Christ  is  God, 
and  I  believe  that  His  Will  is  that  all 
unrighteousness  and  injustice  should  be 
swept  away  from  this  earth,  which  as  you 
have  often  told  us  is  His  Kingdom.  I 
believe  that  as  a  Christian  I  am  bound  to 

73 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


fight  against  all  that  is  bad  in  the  world. 
When  I  stand  up  on  Sunday  mornings  at 
the  Dock  gates,  and  rally  the  men  around 
our  Union  banner,  I  feel  I  am  doing 
Christ's  work,  I  feel  somehow  that  He  is 
standing  by  my  side  and  saying  '  Come 
unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour.'  Then,  again, 
I  used  to  abuse  the  rich  people  in  my 
speeches,  and  extol  the  virtues  of  the 
poor.  I  don't  do  that  now.  I  tell  the 
men  that  there's  a  lot  that's  bad  in  them- 
selves, w^hich  must  be  got  rid  of  if  the 
labour  movement  is  to  succeed.  I  tell 
them  it's  no  good  having  more  wages, 
if  you  don't  know  how  to  spend  them, 
and  it's  no  good  having  shorter  hours, 
if  you  waste  your  leisure  time.  And 
again,  I  used  to  think  that  Parliament 
could  make  the  world  all  good  and  set 
everything  to  rights,  but  I  see  now  that 
though  laws  can  do  a  great  deal,  they  can't 
do  all.  I  see  that  we  must  make  people 
good  and  unselfish,  before  we  can  compel 
them  to  do  very  much.  And  this  is 
where  religion  comes  in.  I'm  perfectly 
74 


CONVERSION 


certain  that  nothing  hut  rehgion  will  make 
a  man  unselfish  whether  he  s  a  capitahst 
or  a  worker.     So  we  must  have  religion." 

John  stopped  quite  abruptly  at  this 
point  and  said :  "That's  what  I've  learnt 
from  you,  Mr.  Remarx." 

"  No,"  said  Stephen,  reverently,  "  you 
have  learnt  it  from  God," 

They  were  silent  for  a  few  minutes. 
The  young  rector  was  mentally  thanking 
God  for  an  answer  to  his  prayers,  for  night 
by  night  he  had  brought  this  man's  name, 
together  with  the  names  of  all  the  social 
leaders  of  the  day,  before  the  throne  of  the 
Almi2;htv. 

At  last  he  spoke  again :  "  Tell  me, 
Oxenham,  is  there  anything  you  can 
suggest,  that  we  Church  people  could  do 
more  effectually  to  bring  before  the  world 
our  aims  ?  " 

"Ah,"  said  Oxenham,  "there  is  one 
thing  which  I  have  often  thought  of,  but  it 
seems  impossible  to  realise." 

"What  is  that?'*  said  the  Rector. 

"It  is  that  somehow  there  is  not  in  the 

75 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


world  any  one  that  looks  like  Christ,  or 
anything  that  looks  like  what  we  read  of  in 
the  Gospels.  I  think  if  people  could  only 
feel  that  we  were  really  doing  what  our 
Lord  did  they  would  believe  in  us.  The 
modern  philanthropist  never  seems  to  me 
to  have  one  point  in  common  with  his 
Master.  He  is  not  even  hated  and  he  will 
never  be  crucified.  I  cannot  express  it 
exactly,  but  perhaps  you  can  guess  what  I 
mean." 

Stephen  was  profoundly  agitated.  He 
could  scarcely  control  himself.  "Oxen- 
ham,"  he  almost  shouted,  "I  know  it,  I 
know  it :  you  have  guessed  my  meaning : 
It  IS  what  I  long  for,  what  I  pray  for.  To 
show  Christ  to  the  world.  When  men  look 
at  me,  they  see  a  clergyman ;  perhaps  to 
them  that  means  nothing  more  than  a 
State-paid  preacher,  who  does  not  even 
believe  what  he  is  paid  to  say ;  but  what 
ought  they  to  see?  They  should  see 
Christ.  They  should  see  a  man  full  of 
compassion     and    longsuffering,     a    man 

honestly  indignant  at  hypocrisy  and  sham, 
76 


CONVERSION 


hating  evil,  wholly  devoted  to  righteous- 
ness, a  man  stripped  of  earthly  wealth  and 
comfort,  a  poor  man  yet  making  many  rich. 
Ah  yes,  and  everywhere  in  this  Christian 
Church  there  should  be  Christs,  men  and 
women,  boys  and  girls,  separate  from  this 
devilish  world  spirit,  employers  of  labour 
with  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts,  states- 
men honest  and  single-hearted,  women 
pure  and  kind,  artists  and  labourers  diligent 
and  truthful,  every  one  loving,  every  one 
working.  Great  God,  can  it  be  done? 
Who  will  help  me  ?  who  will  help  me  ?  " 
He  sank  on  the  sofa  and  shed  great  brave 
tears  of  manly  strength. 

"  I  will  help  you,"  said  Oxenham  calmly, 
"  through  Christ  our  Lord." 


77 


VIII 

IN  EXCELSIS 

The  coverts  at  Lundy  Towers  had  got 
to  be  shot  for  the  second  time  of  the 
season.  This  important  truth  had  im- 
pressed itself  on  the  mind  of  the 
Duchess  a  month  ago,  and  Her  Grace  had 
been  busily  engaged,  for  two  hours  every 
day  between  late  breakfast  and  early 
lunch,  in  scheming  and  planning  for  this 
great  event.  "  First,  the  shooting  men  must 
be  asked  :  Captain  Deadly  from  the 
Depot,  Lord  Henry  and  Lord  Arthur  from 
the  Abbey,  and  that  horrid  Radical  Vesey 
Maitland,  whom  the  Duke  always  insists 
on  having,  because  he's  such  a  good  shot. 
These  and  the  two  boys  will  be  enough 
for  the  coverts."     So  argued  the  Duchess 

with  herself.     "  Then  there's  the  House 
78 


IN  EXCELSIS 


party.  I  must  have  the  Marchioness,  and 
I  am  afraid  Mary  will  be  offended  if  I  don't 
ask  her  and  her  two  hideous  girls.  What 
a  trouble  relations  are,  to  be  sure  !  '* 

"They  are  so  horribly  good  too,  those 
Bramley  girls,''  said  Lady  Blanche ;  "  they'll 
be  giving  away  tracts  in  the  drawing- 
room  after  dinner  as  sure  as  I'm  a 
Breezer." 

"  My  dear  Blanche,"  said  her  Grace, 
"as  if  I  should  allow  such  a  thing!  Still, 
of  course,  their  religion  is  most  objection- 
able, so  very  different  from  the  sensible 
doctrines  of  our  Prayer  Book." 

If  her  Grace  had  been  narrowly  ques- 
tioned as  to  what  those  "sensible  doc- 
trines "  were,  she  would  have  found  herself, 
metaphorically  and  vulgarly  speaking,  up 
a  very  fair-sized  tree. 

"Of  course,  my  dear,"  continued  the 
Duchess,  "  I  think  a  certain  amount  of 
religion  in  a  country-house  is  a  very  good 
thing,  and  so  I  think  we'll  ask  the  Bishop 
of  Doncaster." 

"  Oh  no,   mamma,   pray  don't ;   you'll 

79 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


have  to  ask  his  wife,  who  hasn't  got  an  *  h 
to  her  back ;  she  was  one  of  his  Sunday- 
school  teachers  when  he  was  a  curate.  If 
you  must  have  a  clergyman,  try  and  get 
Mr.  Remarx,  he's  so  interesting ;  he'll  be 
sure  to  say  all  sorts  of  things  to  make 
people  talk,  and  he  might  preach  on 
Sunday  instead  of  that  dreadful  Bug- 
snorter." 

"No,  dear,"  replied  her  Grace,  "it's 
useless  to  ask  Mr.  Remarx ;  he  never  goes 
away  except  into  retreat  by  himself.  In 
fact,  I  know  that  at  this  present  time  he 
has  gone  to  a  sort  of  monastery  at  Malvern, 
where  he  is  thinking  out  his  sermons  for 
next  season ;  the  Marchioness  wrote  and 
told  me  so.  No,  if  we  are  to  go  in  for  the 
Church,  and  the  Bishop  won't  do,  we'll 
have  the  Dean  of  Dover.  He's  the 
wittiest  man  in  England,  and  has  such 
a  dear  old  face.  He  has  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  having  no  vulgar  relations. 
In  fact,  I  believe  he's  a  cousin  of  the 
Ormsby  Vavasours." 

"  Well,  then,  1  think  we  ought  to  have 
80 


IN  EXCELSIS 


a  ritualistic  lady  to  counteract  those 
IjramlL7  girls ;  or,  better  still,  a  High 
Church  young  man  who  will  shock  them. 
Mr.  Denholme  will  do.  He  goes  to  St. 
Tarbara's,  and  is  a  member  of  all  sorts  of 
Komish  guilds  and  things." 

"He  fasts  on  Fridays,  which  is  rather 
an  objection,"  said  Blanche. 

"  Oh,  never  mind  that,"  said  the 
Duchess;  "Tissot  can  easily  make  up 
some  nice  7naigre  dishes  for  him.  I've 
got  a  recipe,  which  was  given  me  by  a 
monk  in  the  south  of  France,  for  doing 
oysters  in  cream." 

In  this  kind  of  way,  the  party  for  the 
covert  shooting  was  gradually  built  up  ; 
and  in  due  course  they  assembled  round 
the  hospitable  board  of  Lundy  Towers. 

The  festive  week  was  a  time  of  real 
hard  work  for  all  concerned,  hardest, 
perhaps,  for  the  servants,  but  nobody 
thought  of  them. 

The  day  began  somewhere  about  ten 
o'clock.  A  sumptuous  breakfast  was 
spread  in   the  green   morning-room.      It 

F  8l 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


was  an  unsociable  meal,  because  nobody 
began  quite  at  the  same  time  as  any  one 
else.  One  had  finished  his  egg  before 
the  other  had  begun  his,  others  had 
got  to  the  cutlets  before  a  later  batch  had 
tackled  the  fish,  the  Dean  was  eating  his 
marmalade,  while  Mr.  Denholme  had  not 
poured  out  the  cream  into  the  first  of  his 
four  cups  of  tea.  This  young  gentleman 
seldom  got  down  before  10.20  a.m., 
though  the  rule  of  the  Guild  of  St. 
Botolph,  to  which  he  belonged,  suggested 
7.30  as  the  latest  hour  at  which  "brothers" 
should  rise.  "  I  got  a  dispensation  from 
Father  Freeborg  before  I  came,  you 
know,"  he  would  say  in  self-defence  regu- 
larly every  morning  to  the  eldest  Miss 
Bramley,  who  would  promptly  ofter  him 
under  the  table-cloth  a  little  tract  called  : 
"The  Jesuits  are  among  us  again!  Be- 
ware !  "  Published  by  the  "  National 
Society  for  the  Recovery  of  Reformation 
Principles."     Price  id.  for  100. 

After  breakfast,  the  shooters  departed 
to  the  coverts,  the  ladies,  the  Dean,  Mr, 

82 


IN  EXCELSIS 


Denhulnie,  and  other  half-men  sitting  in 
the  drawing-room.  A  good  deal  of  gossip 
was  got  through  then,  though  the  greater 
amount  was  reserved  for  the  hour  before 
evening  dinner.  Some  managed  to  get  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  s  walk  before  luncheon, 
but  this  was  not  de  rigueur.  Luncheon 
was  at  1.30,  a  very  large  meal.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Bugsnorter,  Vicar  of  the  parisli  of 
Lundy-cum-Lundy,  generally  managed  to 
bring  some  important  parochial  matter 
for  her  Grace's  imprimatur  at  1.15,  which, 
curiously  enough,  made  it  almost  necessary 
for  him  to  stay  for  lunch.  "  I  hardly  like 
to  trespass,  your  Grace,  so  soon  again  upon 
your  Grace's  hospitality,"  be  would  say, 
"and  moreover,  I  have  left  my  three 
boys  out  in  the  garden  to  wait  for  me,  and 
I  think  I  ought  to  go  to  them." 

"Oh,  bring  them  in,"  said  the  Duchess, 
resignedly.  "  1  daresay  they  are  hungry 
after  their  long  walk." 

And  so  they  were,  poor  boys,  very 
hungry  indeed,  and  they  did  thorough 
justice  to  the  four  courses  which  regularly 

83 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


succeeded    one    another    at    the    ducal 
hmcheon-table. 

After  luncheon,  every  one  assembled 
round  the  piano  to  hear  a  new  duet  be- 
tween Mr.  Denholme  and  Lady  Blanche. 
Mr.  Bugsnorter  applauded  loudly,  little  sus- 
pecting that  it  was  the  same  duet  which 
the  "Sisters  Piff  Paff  "  were  wont  to  sing  at 
the  "Tivoli."  The  words,  however,  were 
in  French,  and  the  old  Vicar  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  understand.  After  an 
impromptu  skirt-dance  by  Lady  Blanche, 
or  a  reading  of  one  of  Ibsen's  plays 
by  Mr.  Traverdi,  an  amateur  actor,  the 
party  would  go  out  for  a  drive,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Bramley  girls,  who  by 
this  time  of  day  had  generally  got  into  a 
state  of  despair,  and  walked  off  by  them- 
selves to  the  neighbouring  town  to  call  on 
the  Dissenting  minister.  Tea  was  served 
at  five  in  the  pink  sitting-room.  It  was 
usually  at  this  meal  that  Miss  Georgy 
Green  looked  in.  She  was  an  old  maid, 
who  lived  with  her  sister  in  the  village. 
Her  great  delight  was  to  see  how  the 
84 


IN  EXCELSIS 


upper  classes  lived,  and  her  "  Gleanings 
from  Five-o'clock  Tea,"  had  they  been 
published,  would  have  made  the  fortune 
of  a  fashionable  bookseller. 

"  Ah,  my  love,"  she  would  say  on  her 
return  to  the  Ivy  Cottage,  "  you  should 
have  been  there  this  afternoon;  Lady 
Blanche  is  getting  more  amusing  every 
day.  I  notice,  by  the  way,  they  don't  wear 
much  behind  now ;  I  must  get  my  brown 
silk  altered  ;  and  the  bonnets  too  are  so 
very  small.'  Then,  my  love,  it's  quite  wrong 
to  say  '  Do  you  take  tea  ? '  the  Duchess 
always  says  simply  '  Tea  ?  '  It  sounds  so 
much  better,  I  think.  And  then,  my  dear, 
we  must  get  into  the  habit  of  shaking 
hands  in  the  right  way  ;  you  must  not  do 
it  in  a  natural  kind  of  way,  you  must 
first  of  all  let  your  right  hand  hang  loosely 
from  your  wrist  like  a  drooping  lily,  then 
you  must  raise  your  arm  quite  high  in 
the  air  like  you  do  when  the  dressmaker 
measures  you  round  the  chest,  keeping  your 
right  hand  drooping  all  the  time,  then  you 
must  waggle  it  in  your  neighbour's  eye,  and 

85 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


he  or  she  will  be  ready  by  this  time  with 
his  or  her  right  hand  in  the  same  kind  of 
position,  then  yoa  will  not  grasp  it  in  a 
vulgar  way,  but  just  take  his  or  her  third 
iinger  between  your  first  and  third  finger, 
waggle  again,  and  then  it's  done." 

"Are  you  quite  sure  about  that, 
Georgy  ?  "  her  sister  would  say. 

"  Quite  sure,  my  love.  I  took  notes  in 
my  pocket-book  immediately  after  I  had 
seen  Lady  Blanche  do  it  " 

Tea  was  an  amusing  meal  at  Lundy,  for 
the  guests  knew  all  about  Miss  Georgy's 
weaknesses,  and  behaved  in  an  especially 
extravagant  manner  for  her  benefit.  After 
tea,  it  being  winter-time,  there  would  be  a 
cosy  assembly  round  the  large  fire  in  the 
hall,  and  a  right  good  gossip  until  dinner. 
Dinner  was  the  culmination  of  all  the  hopes 
and  anticipations  of  the  day.  Even  the 
shooters,  engrossed  in  their  sport,  had  from 
time  to  time  been  looking  fondly  forward 
to  the  evening's  rest  at  the  comfortable 
board,  where  for  two  good  hours  they 
would  graze  upon  the  fat  pastures  pre- 
86 


IN  EXCEIvSIS 


pared  for   them   by  the   Duke's  Parisian 
cook. 

After  dinner,  there  would  be  music  of  a 
more  sedate  character  than  that  of  the 
afternoon,  there  being  usually  some  of  the 
local  bigwigs  present,  who  would  have 
been  shocked  at  anything  oiiire.  At  the 
departure  of  the  bigwigs,  however,  the 
fun  would  become  more  boisterous.  Mr. 
Trevardi  would  give  an  imitation  of  an 
Italian  prima  donna,  or  the  Dean  would 
mesmerise  the  Duchess.  Cards  and 
smoking  followed,  and  it  must  have  been 
quite  two  o'clock  before  the  last  man 
turned  into  bed.  It  was  indeed  a  hard 
day's  work. 

On  one  day  in  that  week  a  little  varia- 
tion was  caused  in  the  programme  owing 
to  a  heavy  fall  of  rain.  The  guests,  un- 
able to  go  out  after  breakfast,  sat  in  the 
Hall.  It  was  then  that  the  conversa- 
tion turned  upon  the  subject  of  our  hero, 
Stephen  Remarx. 

It  began  in  this  way.  Vesey  Maitland, 
who    was    talking    to    Lord    Arthur,    was 

87 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


heard  to  say,  during  a  lull  such  as  often 
comes  in  the  midst  of  a  loud  conversation, 
these  remarkable  words :  "  I  don't  think 
you  have  any  right  to  retain  your  shares 
in  the  Swampshire  Railway  Company  as 
long  as  they  treat  their  men  like  that." 

"What's  that?"  said  the  Dean  anxiously, 
for  he  held  a  large  stake  in  the  Swamp- 
shire :  "is  anything  going  wrong  with  the 
Company  ?  " 

"Oh  no,  don't  be  afraid,  Mr.  Dean," 
replied  Lord  Arthur,  "  it's  only  an  absurd 
idea  which  Maitland  has  picked  up  from 
that  fanatic  Remarx,  that  you  ought  not 
to  hold  shares  in  a  concern  where  the 
working-men  are  not  well  treated.  In  the 
first  place,  I  don't  believe  the  Swampshire 
men  are  worse  treated  than  any  others. 
They  only  work  fourteen  hours  a  day." 
(His  Lordship  said  this  with  the  air  of 
one  who  had  frequently  worked  as  long, 
and  longer  himself,  though  it  is  needless 
to  observe  that,  with  the  exception  of 
'Tiaking  toast  for  his  fagmaster  at  Eton,  he 

had  never  done  a  stroke  of  manual  labour 
83 


IN  EXCKLSIvS 


in  his  life.)  "  And  in  the  second  place, 
even  if  they  were,  I  have  no  right  to  inter- 
fere." 

'*Not  even  if  you  are  receiving  large 
dividends  from  the  overwork  of  these 
men?"  said  Maitland.  "Supposing  one 
of  them  died  from  overwork,  would  not 
you  have  had  any  part  in  his  death  ?  " 

*'0f  course  not:  what  beastly  rot  you 
talk  ! "  said  Lord  Arthur.  '*  Let's  hear 
your  opinion,  Mr.  Dean." 

"Well,  of  course,"  said  the  Dean, 
cautiously  feeling  his  way,  on  what  he 
knew  to  be  dangerous  ground,  "  of  course, 
I  know  that  there  is  a  very  distinct  move- 
ment, nowadays,  in  the  direction  indicated 
by  my  friend,  Mr.  Maitland,  but  I  think 
we  must  be  very  careful  how  we  proceed. 
We  must  always  bear  in  mind  that  any 
interference  with  freedom  of  contract  and 
the  unfettered  circulation  of  capital  is 
likely  to  land  us  in  a  quicksand,  whence 
it  will  be  extremely  difficult  for  us,  com- 
mercially and  industrially  speaking  of 
course,  to  emerge." 

C9 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


A  faint  murmur  of  applause  greeted 
this  effusion  of  the  Dean's,  though  no- 
body knew  exactly  what  he  meant. 

"But  don't  you  think,"  ventured  Lady 
Blanche,  "  that  Mr.  Remarx  must  not  be 
taken  seriously  ?  I  think  it  was  Papa 
who  once  said  that,  if  what  Remarx  sug- 
gested in  one  of  his  sermons  about  carry- 
ing out  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  were 
really  done,  Society  would  break  up  into 
little  pieces  in  a  week." 

"  I  certainly  think,"  continued  the 
Dean,  "that  some  of  the  things  which 
Mr.  Remarx  is  reported  to  have  said  " — 
("Some  of  his  'remarks'  in  fact,"  said 
Mr.  Denholme  in  a  childish  voice,  and 
then  sank  back  behind  a  Japanese  fan  in 
confusion,  nobody  having  laughed) — "I 
think  that  many  of  these  things  are  purely 
Utopian :  purely  Utopian,"  he  repeated, 
"to  the  last  degree,  and  in  the  very  worst 
sense.  Moreover,  to  suppose,  that  at  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century  of  Chris- 
tianity we  are  only  just  finding  out,  from 
the  lips  of  a  young  curate,  what  religion 
90 


IN  KXCKLSIS 


really  is,  and  what  it  requires  us  to  do,  is 
absurd,  and  on  the  face  of  it  ridiculous." 

"  And  yet,"  said  Maitland,"it  was  only 
at  the  beginning  of  this  same  nineteenth 
century  that  our  forefathers  were  so 
ignorant  of  the  principles  of  Christianity 
that  they  quite  cheerfully  hung  people  for 
stealing  sheep  and  even  smaller  things ; 
and  it  is  only  thirty  or  forty  years  ago 
that  our  fathers  complacently  allowed 
children  to  work  in  the  coal-pits,  at  the  age 
of  six  years,  without  moving  a  finger  to 
help  them  ;  and  with  all  due  respect  to  you, 
Mr.  Dean,  even  at  the  end  of  this  nine- 
teenth century  I  venture  to  think  there's  a 
great  deal  more  for  us  to  learn.  Do  you 
think  it  right,  for  instance,  for  nominally 
Christian  landlords  to  be  living  in 
luxurious  palaces,  while  their  own  tenants 
are  living  in  unwholesome  dwellings  which 
could  be  pulled  down  and  put  up  again 
in  a  proper  way  for  half  the  price  of  what 
these  same  men  spend  on  yachting  in  the 
Mediterranean  ?  " 

The  Dean  seemed  a  little  confused,  but 

91 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


managed  to  say:  "Well,  Mr.  Maitland,  of 
course  you  may  look  at  things  in  this 
novel  way,  and  I  am  an  old  man,  and  can't 
be  expected  to  change  now.  Of  course,  I 
know  there's  a  great  deal  of  poverty  in 
the  world,  and  a  great  deal  of  inequality, 
but  it  always  will  be  so  ;  '  The  poor  are 
always  with  us,'  as  the  Holy  Scriptures 
say." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lady  Blanche,  chiming  in 
with  an  alarming  piece  of  exegesis,  "  and 
it  says  too  that  we  can  '  do  what  we  will 
with  our  own ; '  so  why  shouldn't  we  go 
yachting  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Lord  Arthur,  with  a  crown- 
ing misquotation,  "and  the  Catechism  says 
that  the  poor  are  to  be  content,  and  do 
their  duty  in  the  state  of  life  to  which  the 
Almighty  has  called  them." 

"  What  do  you  think,  Miss  Bramley  ?  " 
asked  the  Dean,  hoping  to  transfer  the 
responsibility  of  defending  the  old  faith 
on  to  younger  shoulders. 

"Oh,    I'm    sure   I    don't  know,"    said 
Miss     Bramley    in    a    rapid    voice,   and 
92 


IN  EXCELSIS 


nervously  fumbling  in  her  bag  for  a 
tract ;  "  1  think  these  things  have  nothing 
to  do  with  religion;  we've  got  to  save  our 
souls,  haven't  we  ?  That's  the  only  thing 
to  think  about ;  it's  not  by  works  of 
righteousness  that  we  shall  get  to  Heaven. 
1  don't  think  Mr.  Remarx  is  a  safe  guide. 
I  am  told  he's  not  converted.  I  think  Mr. 
Maitland  will  find  out  the  truth,  perhaps,  if 
he  reads  this."  She  handed  him  a  large 
tract  on  blue  paper  called  "  Tares  among 
the  Wheat,  or  the  Socialist  Satan  among 
the  Saints."  Then  Mr.  Denholme,  having 
recovered  from  his  confusion,  and  think- 
ing that  his  turn  had  come,  thus  delivered 
himself :  "  Father  Freeborg,  you  know, 
whom  I  look  upon  as  a  great  authority 
and  a  most  spiritual  man,  says  that  all  this 
Socialism  is  a  great  mistake:  bethinks 
that  the  work  of  a  priest  is  to  deal  with 
heavenly  things,  and  not  with  dwellings 
of  the  poor,  and  County  Councils,  and 
worldly  things  of  that  kind.  I  think  he"s 
quite  right — don't  you?  And  as  for  Mr. 
Remarx,  of  course  he's  great  fun  to  listen 

93 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


to.  I  look  upon  him  as  a  sort  of  Church 
Corney  Grain,  who  does  for  Sundays,  when 
German  Reed's  is  not  open,  don't  you 
know?  But  of  course  he's  not  quite 
Catholic  you  know,  and  one  could  not 
make  him  one's  director  or  anything  of 
that  kind,you  know." 

Then,  with  a  vicious  little  smile,  he 
walked  up  to  Maitland  and  said :  "  My 
dear  Maitland,  if  you  really  believe  all  this 
nonsense  why  don't  you  give  up  all  you 
possess,  and  give  to  the  poor,  or  some 
equally  Quixotic  thing  of  that  kind  ?  " 

Maitland  looked  at  him  sorrowfully  and 
said  :  "  The  day  may  not  be  so  far  distant 
when  we  shall  be  called  even  to  that,"  and 
he  drew  from  his  pocket  a  small  circular, 
on  which  were  written  these  words  : 

Church  of  St.  Mark  and  the  Angels. 
Lent  Sermons. 

The  Rector  will  preach  a  Course  of 
Sermons,  commencing  on  February  lo. 

Subject — "  Shall  we  not  follow  Christ  V 
94 


IN  EXCELSIS 

These  Sermons  are  intended  for  those 
Christians  who  wish  to  take  a  more 
definite  step  towards  the  imitation  of 
their  blaster. 


9.S 


IX 

THE  VENTURE 

On  February  ii,  a  month  after  the 
events  described  in  the  last  chapter,  the 
following     appeared     in     the     Mortiing 

News : 

Extraordinary  Sermon  at  a  Chelsea 
Church. 

A  great  sensation  was  caused  yester- 
day morning  at  the  Church  of  St. 
Mark  and  the  Angels  by  a  sermon 
preached  by  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Stephen 
Remarx,  the  well-known  Rector.  The 
very  eccentric  doctrines  taught  by  this 
gentleman  have  been  for  some  time  the 
talk  of  London,  but  a  climax  was  reached 
yesterday,  when  he  delivered  the  ex- 
96 


THE  VENTURE 


t.ravagant  discourse  of  whicli  \vc  give  a 
report  below.  It  is  expected  that  the 
sermon,  which  contains  the  most  advanced 
doctrines  of  SociaHsm  and  Rehgious 
Fanaticism,  will  lead  to  serious  results. 
In  fact,  it  is  reported  thit  the  patron,  the 
Marquis  of  St.  Alphege,  has  already  re- 
quested Mr.  Remarx  to  resign. 

It  may  interest  our  readers  to  re- 
call some  facts  concerning  Mr.  Remarx 
and  his  family.  His  brother,  the  present 
Earl  Remarx,  is  little  known,  having 
resided  chiefly  abroad,  owing  to  financial 
difficulties— difficulties  which  his  more 
fortunate  brother  does  not  share,  having 
been  well  provided  for  by  his  father, 
and  having  every  prospect  of  succeedi^ig 
to  the  vast  real  and  personal  property 
of  his  uncle  the  Marquis  of  St. 
Alphege,  including  the  mansion  in  Chelsea 
Square. 

The  living  of  St.  Mark's  is  worth  ;^8oo 
a  year,  a  mere  drop  in  the  ocean  whan 
compared  with  the  wealth  Mr.  Remarx 
already  enjoys  and  will  enjoy. 

G  S7 


STKPHBN  REMARX 


The  above  was  followed  by  a  report  of 
the  sermon.  But  no  verbatim  report  can 
possibly  convey  to  our  readers  a  true  idea 
of  the  immense  impression  produced  upon 
the  vast  congregation  who  had  assembled 
to  hear  the  first  of  Stephen's  promised 
Lenten  discourses.  Only  those  who  were 
present  could  at  all  appreciate  it.  Vesey 
Maitland,  who  sat  in  a  secluded  corner  of 
the  gallery  and  watched  the  proceedings, 
has  preserved  some  notes  which  are  here 
reproduced. 

"  It  was  not  his  eloquence,"  writes 
Maitland,  "  which  impressed  us  all  that 
morning.  Stephen  was  never  eloquent, 
and  on  that  day,  perhaps,  his  words  came 
out  less  easily  than  usual.  Much  of  it 
was  just  blurted  out  in  a  stern  voice, 
though  never  brutally  sarcastic,  and  always 
with  evident  sympathy.  He  felt  intensely 
all  he  was  saying ;  it  had  all  been  care- 
fully thought  out  and  weighed  before  he 
entered  the  pulpit,  yet  it  was  spoJcen 
extempore.  He  held  nothing  but  a  New 
Testament  in  his  hand.  He  seomed  tc 
98 


THE  VENTURE 


me  to  wish  every  one  to  feel  :  '  This 
message  is  not  mine,  but  God's ;  if  I  seem 
lo  wield  a  lash,  it  is  tor  myself  to  smart  as 
well  as  you ;  1  know  your  difficulties,  but 
I  must  speak,  even  if  it  seem  unkind.  I 
can  keep  it  in  no  longer,  the  crisis  of  my 
ministry  has  come ;  woe  is  me  if  I  preach 
not  the  Gospel.' 

The  text  was  from  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  always  his  favourite  passage  of 
Scripture,  Ve  are  the  light  of  the  world. 
A  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  canjiot  be  hid. 

He  began  wdth  a  series  of  almost  jerky 
sentences,  roughly  put  together,  and 
somewhat  commonplace. 

'  Our  Lord,'  he  said,  *  in  another  place 
calls  Himself  the  Light  of  the  World.  He 
penetrates  the  soul  of  each  man,  lighting 
up  its  dark  corners,  and  showing  him  his 
sins  ;  and  He  shines  outside  him  too,  in 
the  darkness  of  the  world,  to  guide  him 
on  his  way.  But  He  is  also  socially 
tne  Light  of  Men,  the  Light  of  a  Natior\ 
1  City,  a  Society  such  as  this  of  ours  in 
West  London. 

99 


STEPHEN  RE MARX 


'  He  lights  up  the  Ufe  of  society,  showing 
it  its  weaknesses  and  sins  ;  and  then,  too, 
outside  He  stands,  the  everlasting  Lamp, 
the  perpetual  Witness,  clear  and  unmis- 
takable, to  show  men  how  they  ought  to 
live,  bidding  them  come  to  Him  and  walk 
in  the  light  of  His  brilliant  Presence. 
Here  is  the  Ideal  for  every  nation,  every 
circle  of  human  beings,  to  lock  up  to  and 
from  which  to  learn  on  what  principles  to 
act  and  live. 

'But,  brethren.  He  does  not  say  only 
"  I  am  the  Light  of  the  World,"  but,  "  Ye 
are  the  light  of  the  world."  We 
Christians,  then,  are  to  act  upon  the  world 
as  our  Master  does.  The  Church  is  to  be 
"a  city  set  on  a  hill,"  a  compact  society  of 
human  beings,  having  in  themselves  that 
light-giving  power  which  our  Lord  Him- 
self has.'  Then  he  plunged  into  the  thick 
of  his  message.  'This  morning,  my 
friends,  I  am  addressing  myself  definitely 
to  those  who  are  professing  Christians, 
to  those  who,  outwardly  at  any  rate, 
belong  to   that  society  which  our  Lord 

ICO 


THE  VENTURE 


has  placed  in  the  world.     I  am  going  to 
ask  you  some  serious  questions. 

'  Are  you  the  light  of  the  world  ?  Your 
Lord  expects  it  of  you.  He  expects  you 
to  be  showing  an  example  to  the  rest  of 
the  world.  He  expects  you  to  be  lighting 
up  the  darkness,  definitely  showing  this 
thing  and  that  thing  to  be  evil,  and  con- 
demning it  as  such  by  your  words  and 
by  your  life.  He  calls  on  you,  in  a  word, 
to  be  separate  from  the  world  around  you. 
You  are  light ;  the  world  is  dark.  You 
are  on  a  hill ;   the  world  is  below. 

*  Let  us  suppose  now  that  we  are  worldly 
people,  and  let  us  take  our  stand  and  look 
at  these  nominal  Christians  in  this  London 
society  of  ours.  Shall  we  find  them  so 
very  different  from  ourselves?  Shall  we  find 
them  standing  out,  separated  from  us,  so 
that  we  feel  that  we  are  in  the  dark  and 
they  are  in  the  light— that  we  are  below 
and  they  on  a  hill  ? ' 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  congrega- 
tion seemed  to  realise  that  Stephen  in- 
tended that  morning  to  bring  his  message 


STEPHEN  RE MARX 


heme  very  close  to  his  hearers.  It  was 
clear  that  no  rhetoric  was  to  be  expected, 
nothing  that  they  could  just  admire  as  a 
display  of  genius  and  then  put  aside  as 
having  no  meaning  for  practical  purposes. 

'  Look  at  them  ! '  cried  Stephen — as  if 
he  was  really  a  leader  of  heathens,  wishing 
to  learn  by  looking  at  us  what  true  Chris- 
tianity meant.  *  Look  at  them  ! '  he  said, 
in  a  voice  so  earnest  that  many  a  man 
trembled,  hke  Felix  of  old,  at  the  prospect, 
of  a  '  righteousness'  about  to  be  revealed. 

'  Lock  at  them.  Some  of  them  are  em- 
ployers of  labour — Christians,  remember ; 
but  what  are  they  doing  ?  Surely  they 
cannot  know  that  those  poor  girls  whom 
they  employ  are  suffering  disease  from 
their  neglect ;  surely  they  do  not  know 
that  the  conditions  under  which  their 
workpeople  live  are  such  that  they  can 
hardly  be  decent  and  certainly  not  happy  ; 
surely  if  they  knew  it,  these  "  lights  of  the 
world,"  they  would  try  to  do  something  to 
make  things  better.  Some  of  them,  agnin, 
are    business   men  ;   Christians    too,    re- 

I02 


THE  VENTURE 


member,  orthodox  too,  generous  perhaps, 
regular  in  church ;  but  we  follow  them  on 
Monday  to  their  offices.    We   look  up  to 
them    for   light    and    leading,     we    poor 
dark,  heathens,  who  want  to  know  how  to 
live ;  we  find  them  beggaring  their   neigh- 
bours, we  find  them  not  very  careful  about 
the  strict  honesty  and  fairness  of  all  their 
dealings.  We  approach  them  and  ask  them 
if  they  have  forgotten    Christ,  and  they 
tell  us   that    "  business  is  business,"  and 
"  religion  is  only  for  Sunday."      We  look 
again  at  some  grandly  dressed  people  ;  we 
remember  that  we  knew  them   once  when 
they  were  poor ;  we    wonder   how    they 
made  their  money  ;  we  are  told  it  was  in 
trade— in  fact,  they  still  draw  their  wealth 
from  trade.     We  ask  them    what  sort  of 
trade  it  is  ?  what  effect  it  has  on  the  lives 
of  others?     We  ask  them  whether  it  is 
true  that  the  district  in  the  poor  part  of 
London  where  their  public-houses   chiefly 
are  is  well  known  to  be  overstocked  wiih 
such    places,    and    that     the    po[)ulation 
is  cursed  with  drunkenness  and  misery? 

X03 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


They  tell  us  that  they  have  never  in- 
quired about  it.  We  wonder  somewhat 
as  we  look  for  light  from  them. 

*  Or  again,  we  see  some  other  rich  per- 
sons who,  we  are  told,  possess  large 
shares  in  several  well-known  companies. 
We  have  heard  reports  of  many  grievances 
which  those  employed  by  these  companies 
have  got.  We  ask  the  shareholders  if  the 
grievances  are  well-founded.  They  tell  us 
they  do  not  know,  and  if  they  did  know 
they  could  do  nothing.  We  suggest  that 
they  might  sell  out.  They  stare  and  laugh, 
and  again  we  wonder.  We  turn  to  another 
group ;  this  time  they  are  country  gen- 
tlemen. We  have  been  told  that  the 
labourers  on  their  estates  are  earning  a 
miserable  pittance,  that  they  are  expected 
to  keep  their  wives  and  children  every 
week  on  exactly  the  money  which  these 
gentlemen  spend  on  two  bottles  of 
champagne.  We  ask  them  if  this  is  true. 
They  tell  us  it  always  has  been  so, 
that  their  fathers  went  to  church  and 
did  not  think  an  alteiation  was  necessary, 
104 


THE  VENTURE 


so  why  should  they  ?  We  still  wait  for 
light. 

'Once  again,  my  brethren,  we  follow 
that  crowd  of  young  men  round  from 
church  to  their  club,  and  we  inquire 
who  they  are.  Six  of  them  are  the  eldest 
sons  of  their  parents.  We  are  told  they 
do  nothing  all  day,  that  they  never  work 
because  they  have  no  need  to  do  so.  We 
have  read  somewhere  in  the  Bible  that 
"  if  any  would  not  work,  neither  should 
he  eat,"  and  we  wonder  again  as  w^e  see 
them  sitting  down  to  lunch.' 

Under  the  excitement  of  conviction, 
Stephen  had  almost  forgotten  himself — it 
was  the  nearest  approach  to  culpable  sar- 
casm in  the  sermon — if  he  had  gone  a 
step  further  he  would  have  not  only  failed 
of  his  object  by  disgusting  some  of  those 
whose  consciences  he  most  wished  to 
quicken,  but  he  would  have  offended  his 
own  sense  of  humility,  which  he  ever  felt 
most  keenly,  in  the  presence  of  the  awful 
problem.  His  countenance  changed.  He 
paused.     He  seemed  to  be  casting  himself 

'OS 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


upon  God,  and  saying  secretly :  "  O  God, 
what  are  we  to  do  ?  Show  us,  dear  Saviour, 
how  we  are  to  serve  Thee  !  Tell  me, 
now,  my  Master,  what  I  must  tell  these 
people." 

■"J^hen  he  began  again — 

'  The  light  of  the  world  !  Is  it,  then,  a 
sham  and  a  delusion  ?  Are  we  to  despair 
and  say,  '  The  standard  is  too  high  ;  if 
Christianity  requires  so  much,  we  cannot 
be  Christians  ? '  Are  we,  then,  for  the 
most  part  hypocrites?  No,  my  brothers 
and  sisters,  rather  we  must  sit  at  our 
Lord's  feet  again,  and  hear  Him  say,  'With 
men  it  is  impossible,  but  with  God  all 
things  are  possible.'  Then  with  His  help 
we  must  set  to  work  to  light  the  lights 
again.  The  light  has  gone  out,  or  it  is 
obscured.  It  has  got  mingled  with  the 
darkness.  We  are  too  much  of  the 
world. 

'  Now,  I  am  not  giving  you  the  result  of 
a  hasty  and  superficial  survey  of  the 
matter,  but  the  result  of  thought  and 
prayer.     Neither   do    I   profess   to   have 

io6 


TIIH  VENTURE 


found  out  the  answer  to  all  the  difficulty. 
But  such  as  I  have  1  give  you.' 

Then  he  unfolded  his  scheme,  without 
sensation,  without  emotion,  only  with  a 
quiet,  firm  deliberateness,  which  showed 
us  that  he  really  meant  it.  Had  he  spoken 
now  excitedly  or  with  passion,  it  is  possible 
that  hundreds  might  have  been  attracted 
to  him  for  the  moment,  but  the  falling 
away  would  have  been  certain  and  exten- 
sive. As  it  was,  a  few  were  drawn,  and 
those  most  seriously. 

'This  is  my  invitation,'  he  said.  'Some 
of  us  must  give  up  all  we  have.  I  repeat, 
we  must  give  up  all  we  have.  I  do  not 
say  that  we  are  to  take  up  our  money  in  a 
reckless  way  and  throw  it  into  the  sea,  nor 
even  that  we  are  to  give  it  all  to  a  chari- 
table institution.  Rather,  we  are  to  take 
our  wealth  and  lay  it  at  Christ's  feet — give 
it  to  Him  to  spend.  All  of  it  is  to  be 
given  to  what  is  right  and  good. 

'  There  is  to  be  no  fanaticism  about  this, 
no  wild  rush  into  poverty  or  mendicancy. 
That  will  never  solve  the  social  problem. 

107 


STEPHEN   REMARX 


'  My  idea  is,  that  some  few  of  us  might 
join  together  and  give  all  our  wealth  into 
a  common  fund  to  spend  for  Christ. 
Wealth,  moreover,  does  not  simply  mean 
our  ready  cash  ;  it  means  all  that  wherewith 
God  has  endowed  us :  our  intellect,  our 
reason,  our  powers  of  mind  and  hand  and 
heart,  our  genius,  ourselves.  All  should  be 
massed  together  and  drawn  from  for  the 
benefit  of  our  fellow-men.  We  will  live  to- 
gether, some  of  us  men,  each  will  give  him- 
self for  all :  the  artist  will  paint  for  others' 
joy,  the  author  will  write  for  good,  the  priest 
will  preach  and  teach  and  minister  grace ; 
the  student  will  think  and  read,  the  poli- 
tician will  use  the  strength  of  the  Legis- 
lature, so  far  as  it  will  allow  him,  for  the 
work  of  Christ  and  the  extension  of  His 
kingdom;  the  poor  man  who  has  no  t  had 
the  advantage  of  education  will  join  us,  to 
learn  maybe,  but  also  to  teach  us  about 
those  with  whom  he  has  lived,  so  that  we 
may  all  get  to  know  one  another  as 
brothers,  sons  of  the  One  Father.  And 
above  all  we  will  study  God,  we  will 
io3 


THE   VENTURE 


strive  to  know  what  goodness  and  holi- 
ness are,  we  will  read  over  our  Gospels 
again  and  learn  how  to  live.  Then 
perhaps  we  shall  be  lights. 

'  Others  there  might  be  living  more  in 
the  world.  Many  of  you  have  your  work, 
which  could  not  be  done  under  such 
conditions  as  these ;  some  of  you  have 
homes  you  could  not  leave.  You  I  would 
bid  to  live  in  the  world,  and  yet  far  more 
strictly  than  at  present,  not  of  it.  Shun 
its  spirit.  Ask  not,  what  do  others  do  ?  but 
what  does  Christ  bid  me  do  ?  Look  well 
again  at  the  principles  on  which  you 
regulate  your  conduct.  Brace  them  up 
that  they  may  come  nearer  to  the 
standard  of  your  Lord ;  look  to  your 
honesty,  your  purity,  your  diligence. 

'  None  of  us  will  find  it  easy.  To  follow 
Christ  must  mean  to  walk  again  the  way 
of  Calvary.  It  may  mean  giving  up  our 
friends — many  will  refuse  to  walk  with  us  ; 
it  may  mean  giving  up  our  families,  turn- 
ing our  backs  even  on  our  own  flesh  and 
blood.      It    must    mean    giving  up  much 

109 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


romfort  and  luxury,  for  a  man  clothed  in 
soft  raiment  and  living  in  kings'  palaces 
cannot  be  a  prophet.  We  shall  certainly 
be  spoken  against.  Woe  unto  us  if  we 
are  not  !  Come  out,  my  brothers,  and  be 
separate.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after 
Me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his 
Cross  and  follow  Me.  For  whosoever 
will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it  :  and  whoso- 
ever will  lose  his  lite  for  My  sake  shall 
find  it."' 


X 

SOME  PASTORAL  EPISTLES 

In  order  to  give  a  correct  version  of 
what  passed  between  Stephen  and  the 
Marquis  at  this  eventful  period  of  his 
career,  it  is  best  to  reproduce  the  corre- 
spondence itself. 

Letter  I. 

From  the  Marquis  to  Stephen. 

Dear  Stephen, 

The  reports  which  have  reached 
me  about  your  disgraceful  behavioui  ni 
the  pulpit — a  pulpit  the  occupation  of 
which  you  owe  entirely  to  my  liberality, 
— leave  me  no  alternative  but  to  request 
you  to  resign.  I  know  I  have  no  legal 
power  of  compelling  you  to  do  this,  but  I 

iij 


STEPHEN   REMARX 


put  it  to  your  honour — if  you  have  any  left. 
I  ask  you,  therefore  to  leave  the  benefice 
vacant,  and  to  give  me  the  opportunity  ot 
placing  therein  a  clergyman  whose  ideas 
of  what  a  Christian  is  will  more  nearly 
approach  my  own.  I  am  writing  to  the 
Bishop  of  London  by  this  post. 

Yours  affectionately, 

Saint  Alphege. 
(Dictated.) 

P.S. — [From     tJie    Marchioness^ — I'm 

aw^fully    sorry   about    this,    Ste,    but    the 

Marquis  is  quite    inexorable.     I  think  if 

you  were  to  apologise  and  promise  not  to 

be    quite   so  pro  no  nee    again,   he    would 

cave   in.     Do  take  care  of  yourself,  and 

don't    do   anything  foolish  with  this  new 

plan  of  yours. 

Aunt  xVlf, 


XZ2 


SOME  PASTORAL  EPISTLE 

Letter  IL 
From  the  Marquis  to  the  Bishop. 

My  dear  Lord  Bishop, 

Reports  may  have  already  reached 
your  Lordship  of  the  very  disgraceful 
conduct  of  my  misguided  nephew,  the 
Rector  of  St.  Mark  and  the  Angels. 
I  have  been  told  that  he  preached  a 
sermon  in  which  Socialism,  Radicalism, 
Anarchism,  and  every  conceivable  abomi- 
nation were  freely  advocated.  He  pro- 
poses to  form  some  kind  of  society  for  the 
propagation  of  these  dangerous  principles, 
a  course  which  I  have  no  doubt  your 
Lordship  will  agree  with  me  would  imperil 
the  very  existence  of  the  Established 
Church,  and  which  I  hope  your  Lordship 
will  absolutely  forbid  him  to  pursue.  I 
have  written  to  Mr.  Remarx,  requesting 
him,  as  a  personal  favour  to  me  and  to 
prevent  any  unpleasantness,  to  resign  the 
living.  I  shall  request  your  Lordship  to 
institute  the  Rev.  Amos  Bugsnorter  to  the 
H  113 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


living,  who  is  at  present  the  Duke  of 
Lundy's  clergyman,  a  most  earnest  man, 
and  one  in  every  way  likely  to  restore 
this  unhappy  parish  to  a  state  of  peace 
and  quietness  after  this  unfortunate  dis- 
turbance. 

I  am,  my  Lord, 

Yours  faithfully 

Saint  Alphege. 

(Dictatsd.) 

Letter  III, 

JFrom  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Stephen 
Remark  to  his  Uncle. 

Dear  Uncle  St.  Alphege, 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  your  letter, 
and  to  say  that  I  already  meditated  doing 
what  you  have  asked  me  to  do.  I  have 
for  some  time  felt  that  the  particulai 
line  of  conduct  which  I  am  trying  to 
follow  will  make  it  difficult  for  me  to  give 
sufficient  attention  to  the  proper  working 
of  this  enormous  parish.     I  therefore  beg 

114 


SOME  PASTOR AIv  EPISTLES 


to  tender  my  resignation  of  the  benefice 
of  St.  Mark  and  the  Angels.  May  I, 
however,  request  as  a  great  favour,  that 
you  will  appoint  as  my  successor  one  who 
will  contmue  the  many  organisations  for 
the  relief  of  the  poor,  etc.,  which  I  have, 
by  God's  help,  been  allowed  to  start  in 
the  parish  during  my  incumbency. 

Yours  truly, 

Stephen  Remark. 

P.S. — I  think  I  should  De  shrinking 
from  my  duty  as  a  Christian  minister 
were  I  not  to  point  out  to  you  that  your 
conduct  towards  me  is  not  in  accordance 
with  your  profession  as  a  Christian.  If 
at  any  time  you  would  wish  to  see  me, 
and  to  let  me  help  you  to  follow  out 
your  professed  religion  more  effectually,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  call. 

S.  R. 


>A5 


XI 

PROGRESS 

The  London  season  was  over.  The  Park 
was  nearly  empty.  On  a  seat  near  the 
Achilles  statue  sat  Paul  Durnford  and 
John  Oxenham.  Our  friend  Paul  had 
only  that  afternoon  returned  from  a 
journey  on  the  Continent,  whither  he  had 
been  sent  by  his  Library  Commissioners 
on  literary  business. 

"  And  now  that  we  are  seated,  John, 
tell  me  how  it's  all  going  on,"  said  Paul. 
*'  I  have  been  out  of  everything.  With  the 
exception  of  a  curiously  garbled  version 
of  the  celebrated  sermon  in  Galignani, 
and  a  rambling  account  of  the  new  society 
which  was  given  me  by  a  Roman  Catholic 
student  at  St.  Cyr  called  Denholme,  I 
have  really  heard  nothing  about  it.  First 
of  all,  tell  me,  how  is  our  dear  Stephen." 

Ii6 


PROGRESS 

"  Oh,  he's  first-rate,  only  a  Httle  tired 
after  all  the  bother  of  getting  us  fairly 
launched ;  but,  please  God,  we  are  all 
going  for  a  little  rest  to  the  sea  soon," 
said  John. 

"  How  many  are  there  of  you  ?"  asked 
Paul. 

"Only  six  at  present  of  the  'regulars.* 
You  will  make  the  seventh  of  course,  and 
then  there  are  some  hundreds  of  the  other 
kind  ;  but  I  had  better  explain.  First  of 
all,  you  must  know  that  almost  imme- 
diately after  Stephen  had  delivered  his 
sermon,  the  Marquis  of  St.  Alphege 
called  upon  him  to  resign,  which  he  did. 
St.  Mark's  Church  was  given  to  an 
old  clergyman  called  Bugsnorter,  who 
managed  in  three  Sundays  to  almost  com- 
pletely empty  it.  On  the  third  Sunday  of 
his  incumbency  he  delivered  his  sermon 
to  his  family  (who  occupied,  I  think, 
three  pews),  and  the  Bible-woman. 

But  I  must  tell  you  about  Stephen. 
For  the  first  few  days  after  the  sermon  he 
was  beset  by  every  kind  of  person.    News- 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


paper  interviewers  came  in  crowds,  but 
were  never  suffered  to  pass  the  threshold. 
Nevertheless,  the  Piccadilly  Gazette  man- 
aged to  fill  two  columns  with  a  '  Chat 
with  John  the  Baptist,'  while  the  Monthly 
of  Monthlies  gave  a  '  Character  Sketch,' 
which  revealed  the  fact  that  the  editor  had 
known  Stephen  from  his  childhood,  and 
had  practically  inspired  him  with  all  his 
ideas.  I  don't  think  Stephen  minded  the 
papers  much,  except  perhaps  the  report 
in  the  Meteor,  which  pained  him.  It  was 
headed  :  '  Chucked  out  of  Chelsea.  The 
Parson  and  the  Peer.  Parson  Remarx 
passes  remarks.  The  Marquis  does  not 
like  it,  and  chucks  him  out  of  a  fat  living.' 
Then  there  must  have  been  at  least  300 
people  who  came  and  offered  to  belong 
to  the  Society  whenever  it  should  be 
formed.  This  proves,  what  at  one  time  I 
should  have  doubted,  that  there  are  very 
large  numbers  of  rich  people  who  are 
anxious  to  serve  Our  Lord  and  His  poor, 
and  who  only  want  to  be  shewn  the  way. 
Yes.  Durnford,  if  I  had  my  life  over  again 
1x3 


PROGRESS 


I  would  cut  out  my  tongue  rather  than 
talk   against  the    rich  as   I   used    to    do. 
Often  and  often  have  I  borne  false  witness 
against  my  neighbour.     The  truth  is,  wc 
are  all  the  same,  poor  and  rich,  very  feeble 
imitators  of  Our  Master.     Henceforth  let 
us   lay  aside  mutual  recriminations  and 
work    together   for   the    common    good. 
Yet    we     only    have    six     members     at. 
present.     This  fact  alone  will  show  you 
how  strict  Stephen  has  been.     It  is  the 
poverty  which  chokes  them  off.     Nobody 
is  allowed  to  possess  a  penny.     All  our 
money  is  in  one  common  fund,  and  it  is 
dealt   with    only   at   the    will    of  the  six 
members,  who  meet  together  every  day  to 
settle  what  to  do.     About  half  is  sent  to 
home  and  foreign  missions,  and  the  rest 
is    spent   on    our    work.     As    you    may 
imagine,  I  did  not  contribute  much,  but  I 
am  giving  myself  and  all  my  energy  to  the 
work,  and  I  can  tell  you  it's  much  harder 
than    dock    labour.     Others    of    us,    of 
course,  contributed  large  sums.     Stephen 
himself  was   rich,   and  so  was  Maitland. 

119 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


He  is  the  Radical  M.P.  for  one  of 
the  East-end  districts,  but  he  lives  with 
us,  going  down  to  the  House  every  day 
during  the  session.  He  has  been  doing 
splendid  work  with  the  new  Factory  Bill 
this  last  session.  He  had  a  large  estate 
in  Wiltshire,  and  he  was  doubtful  for  a 
time  whether  he  ought  not  to  go  and  look 
-after  it,  but  eventually  he  thought  it  best 
to  sell  it  to  a  Christian  purchaser,  one  of 
the  'irregular  army,'  as  we  call  them,  Lord 
Mount  Pleasant. 

"  The  other  three  of  us  are  the  Duke 
of  Dalston,  Frank  Newton,  and  Doctor 
Probyn.  The  Duke  has  sold  all  his  pos- 
sessions, and  has  made  over  his  London 
property  to  his  mother.  He  was  able  to 
effect  this  transaction  because  his  father 
died  just  before  he  came  of  age,  and  he 
had  a  free  hand  to  do  as  he  liked  with 
the  estate.  We  look  after  the  houses,  and 
see  that  they  are  all  as  they  should  be, 
and  the  rents  are  collected  by  us  for  the 
Duchess. 

*'  Frank  is  the  sweetest  person  in  the 

I20 


PROGRESS 


world.  He  is  a  painter.  To  look  at  him 
is  to  know  what  love  is.  The  work  he  is 
doing  down  in  South  London  for  churches 
and  schools  and  the  people's  homes  is 
quite  wonderful.  You  may  ask,  perhaps, 
what  he  has  given  up  for  Christ.  He  has 
given  up  the  prospect  of  being  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  our  time  in  a  worldly 
sense.  He  w^ould  probably  have  been  an 
A.R.A.  next  year,  and  as  he  is  only  nine- 
teen years  old,  you  can  see  that  he  was  on 
the  way  to  what  men  call  greatness. 

"  Then  there  is  Doctor  Probyn.  You 
know  his  name,  I  suppose.  He  was  the 
fashionable  physician.  Now  we  call  him 
Luke.  His  practice  is  now  entirely  in  the 
slums.  The  money  he  earns  goes,  of 
course,  into  our  fund. 

"Now,  I  must  tell  you  of  a  most  im- 
portant thing  that  happened  within  a  few 
weeks  of  our  start.  The  Marquis  of  St. 
Alphege  died.  By  his  will  it  was  found 
that  he  had  deprived  Stephen  of  almost 
everything,  and  had  left  it  to  his  grand 
nephew,  who  lives  in  Manitoba,    Curiously, 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


however,  he  left  Stephen  the  big  house, 
Stephen  beheves  that  this  piece  of  gene- 
rosity was  due  to  the  entreaties  of  his 
aunt,  the  Marchioness,  who  I  must  tell 
you  has  become  an  altered  woman  now, 
and  is  one  of  the  'irregulars.' 

"The  house  was,  of  course,  just  what  we 
wanted.  The  property  would  have  been 
an  encumbrance.  It  is  in  this  house  we 
live.  Fancy  my  living  in  a  lord's  West- 
end  mansion  !  But  it  is  not  much  like  a 
mansion  now. 

''  We  six  live  in  the  top  part  of  the  house, 
in  what  used  to  be  the  servants'  bed- 
rooms. We  have  one  room  each,  no  car- 
pet, no  curtains,  and  a  simple  little  bed. 
The  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  house,  with 
the  exception  of  some  spare  rooms  which 
we  are  keeping  unfurnished,  is  given  to 
the  people.  The  large  drawing-rooms 
are  still  kept  as  reception-rooms.  Here 
we  hold  our  parties  twice  a  week.  Any- 
one can  come :  rich  and  poor  meet  to- 
gether. 

"  What  wonderful  transactions  take  place 


T22 


rROGRESS 


there    week    by    week !     Only  last    night 
there     was     the     Earl    of    Cum  borough 
making  up  a  beautiful  little  arrangement 
with  that  clever  Jack  Burdon,  the  pupil 
teacher,    to    pay    for   the   whole    of  his 
education  at  Oxford ;  while  Lady  Merthyr 
was  organising  a  visit  of  the  factory  girls 
to    Merthyr    Castle   for   three   weeks    in 
September.     The  other  rooms  are  used 
for  all   kinds  of  purposes.     The   'irregu- 
lars' come  and  work  there   of  an   even- 
ing,   some    holding    classes,    some    just 
reading  a  book  with  the  men  and  boys. 
The   library  is   still    used  for  its  original 
purpose,  or  rather  it  now  fulfils  its  pur- 
pose, which  it  never  did  before.     I  some- 
times wonder  what  the  old  Marquis  would 
say  if  he  came  back  to  life  and  saw  our 
young  men  sitting  in  his  library  and  read- 
ing his  books. 

"The  coach  house  is  used  as  a  gymna- 
sium, and  the  kitchen  for  cookery  classes. 
The  billiard-room  and  conservatory,  at  the 
end  of  the  garden,  which  form  a  separate 

house,   is   now   our   hospital,    where    Dr. 

123 


STEPHEN  REMARK 


Probyn  looks  after  his  little  ones.  Two 
sisters  of  charity  live  there  to  attend  to 
the  sick  children.  I  must  not  forget  the 
chapel,  where  every  day  we  receive  the 
Sacrament,  and  where  for  an  hour  each 
morning  Stephen  expounds  to  us  the 
Gospel." 

"Tell  me  something  more  about  the 
*  irregular  '  army,"  said  Paul  Durnford- 

"Well,"  said  Oxenham,  "  they  number 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty.  They 
belong  to  every  class  and  profession. 
You  would  hardly  believe  it,  but  Joe 
Binks  is  one  of  them.  Dr.  Probyn  saved 
his  wife's  life,  and  that  was  too  much  for 
Joe.  She  was  more  precious  to  him  than 
Cain's  wife,  and  he  gave  up  Bible  smash- 
ing, and  became  a  Christian,  and  a 
thorough  one  too.  Then  there  are 
lawyers  and  stockbrokers,  doctors  and 
soldiers;  any  one,  in  fact,  who  will  solemnly 
promise  to  keep  Christ's  law  in  the  midst 
of  this  wicked  world,  and  to  do  some 
practical  work  for  his  fellow-men.  We've 
got  some  of  those  poor  eldest  sons  among 
124 


PROGRESS 

them,  and  they  are  doing  their  best, 
though  it's  very  hard.  Three  of  them  are 
going  to  look  after  our  boys  at  Clovelly 
next  month,  instead  of  shooting  grouse ; 
and  if  that's  not  reHgion,  I  don't  know 
what  is." 

"  Have  you  any  definite  rule  for  them  ? 
How  do  you  keep  them  in  continuous 
touch  with  your  work  ?  "  asked  Paul. 

"They  are  bound  by  one  rule  besides 
the  promises,  and  that  is,  to  stay  at  least  a 
fortnight  with  us  during  the  year.  During 
that  time  they  will  talk  matters  over  with 
us  and  we  shall  give  each  other  advice  as 
to  how  to  act  in  a  Christian  way  in  the 
world,  and  how  to  spend  money  in  the 
best  way." 

"But,"  said  Paul,  "do  not  some  of 
them  find  it  very  difficult  to  keep  their 
promises." 

"Very  difficult  indeed,"  said  Oxenham. 
"A  country  gentleman  who  fills  his  house 
with  university  extension  students  instead 
of  partridge  shooters  finds  himself  cut 
by    the    county ;   a  fishmonger   who  has 

125 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


begun  to  tell  the  truth  about  the  freshness 
of  his  fish  to  his  customers  has  lost  hall' 
his  custom:  a  pawnbroker,  too,  has  found 
his  profits  declining  because  he  has  been 
giving  people  the  true  value  of  the  goods 
which  they  bring  to  pledge.  But  the 
best  case  of  all  is  that  of  Mr.  Dyvese,  a 
brother  of  the  late  Sir  Henry,  whom  he 
succeeded  as  Chairman  of  the  Match 
Company.  He  is  one  of  our  '  irregulars,' 
and  he  went  on  in  such  a  way  about  the 
poor  girls  that  he  was  called  upon  to 
resign,  and  he  did  so." 

''  Do  you  find  that  many  of  the  *  irre- 
gulars '  give  it  up  after  a  bit  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Oxenham,  "a  few  do. 
Lady  Sapphira,  a  married  lady,  began 
well,  but  she  hardly  caught  the  spirit  of 
the  thing,  and  gave  it  up.  Sir  Simon 
Maggs,  too,  was  a  great  one  at  it  for  a 
short  time,  but  we  found  he  wanted  to 
make  it  a  commercial  concern,  and  so  we 
were  obliged  to   tell  hmi  that    he    must 

go." 
"  Is  it  too  soon,  John,  to  say  if  any  effect 

126 


PROGRESS 

is  being  produced  on  society  at  large  by 
what  you  are  doing?"  asked  Durnford. 

*•  My  dear  Durnford,"  said  Oxenham,  "I 
don't  altogether  like  your  question;  in  fact, 
it  is  against  our  rules  to  trouble  ourselves 
about  results.  We  must  be  content  to 
go  on  until  we  die,  even  if  nothing  sub- 
stantial seems  to  come  of  it.  Think  ct 
the  Master  dying  on  the  Cros-s,  deserted 
by  all  His  friends  and  seemmg]y  a  failure. 
This  much  I  will  say  because  He  has  told 
us  not  to  be  surprised  if  the  world  hates 
us.  We  are  awfully  hated.  1  beiieve  there 
are  some  who  would  almost  kill  us  if  they 
dared.  I  am  told  that  things  have  been 
said  against  us  in  ballrooms  and  at  dmner 
parties.  I  have  heard  people  laughmg  at 
us  as  we  walk  along  the  street,  and  on  two 
occasions  men  spat  in  Stephen's  face. 
But  we  take  no  notice.  Neither  do  we 
attempt  to  answer  the  misrepresentation  of 
the  Press.  At  first  the  papers  looked 
upon  us  as  material  for  sensational 
'  copy.'  That  passed  off,  and  then  began 
a  '  correspondence.'     We  have  been   de- 

127 


STEPHEN   REMARX 


scribed  as  Lunatics,  Jesuits,  Jumpers, 
Vagabonds,  and  Anarchists,  but  we  never 
reply.  No,  we  go  on  silently.  It  is  better. 
Besides,  it  is  more  like  Christ." 


xjS 


XII 
JUDGMENT 

Stephen  and  his  friends  did  not  call  their 
Society  by  any  name. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Whittaker  was  not 
able  to  secure  for  them  a  place  among  his 
250  different  sects  side  by  side  with  the 
Quakers  and  the  followers  of  Johanna 
Southcott.  In  "  high  society  "  they  were 
known  as  the  "  Remarkables,"  and  many 
a  wild  rumour  went  round  concerning 
them.  At  a  Foreign  Office  "crush"  you 
might  hear  some  languid  "Johnnie" 
saying    to     a     fair     debutnjite :     "  I     say, 

Miss ,  have  you  heard  the  latest  about 

those  '  Remarkables  '  ?  They  feed  on 
fourpence  a  day  and  flog  each  other  every 
morning.  Ton  my  word,  I've  a  good 
mind  to  join  them  myself,  if  only  to  save 
I  129 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


my  bills,  though  I  should  not  like  the  cat 

o'  nine  tails.''     "  Oh !  fancy  you,  Mr. 

m  a  long  cloak  like  Mr.  Remarx— oh  !  how 
funny  ! "  Or  one  might  hear  an  old 
dowager  lamenting  the  new  departure  in 
religion  to  her  companion  on  the  sofa  : 
"  I  call  it  flying  in  the  face  of  Providence 
to  go  out  of  the  world  like  that.  Surely 
the  good  gifts  of  the  earth  were  meant  to 
be  enjoyed.  To  think  of  that  dear  Duke 
of  Dalston  giving  up  all  his  possessions — 
it's  a  blasphemy,  that's  what  it  is.  And 
as  for  that  '  irregular  army  '  or  whatever 
they  call  themselves,  I  think  they  are 
the  worst  of  the  lot.  They're  a  positive 
nuisance,  interfering  with  their  absurd 
maxims  and  precepts  every  five  minutes. 
Lent  sermons  at  St.  Paul's,  Knightsbridge, 
are  bad  enough  for  six  weeks ;  but  when  it 
comes  to  'You  must  not  do  this,'  and 
*  You  must  not  do  that,'  all  the  year 
round,  it's  cruel.  Besides,  I  think  it's 
most  improper  to  have  religion  introduced 
at  a  dinner-table.  The  other  day  I  was 
dining  at  the  Duchess  of  Lundy's,  and 
130 


JUDGMENT 

there  were  no  less  than  six  of  these 
eccentric  creatures  there,  and  their 
carryings-on  were  simply  scandalous. 
One  man  went  on  saying  his  grace  a 
long  time  after  the  Duke  had  finished  it. 
You  know  the  beautiful  way  the  Duke 
says  grace.  He  just  says  *  Praised  '  and 
then  we  all  begin  dessert.  And  then 
none  of  these  goody-goodies  would  laugh 
when  the  Duchess  told  that  exceedingly 
funny  story  of  the  IManners-Gigby  divorce 
case.  I  call  it  so  rude  not  to  laugh  at 
your  hostess'  stories.  And  then  one  of 
ihem  actually  had  the  effrontery  to  tell 
somebody  point-blank  to  his  face  that 
some  of  the  words  he  used  were  not  fit 
to  be  spoken  by  a  Christian.  Really, 
Society  will  be  unbearable  if  this  kind 
of  thing  is  allowed  to  go  on  much  longer. 
I  wish  somebody  would  speak  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  or  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain, or  some  one  of  that  kind,  and  get 
it  put  down." 

The  following  report  of  the  first  chaptei 
meeting  of  the  whole  Society,  held  within 

131 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


a  year  from  its  foundation,  will  convey  a 
good  idea  of  the  progress  of  its  work  and 
the  difficulties  it  has  had  to  contend  with. 
The  report  is  written  by  Frank  Newton 
the  artist,  and  is  contained  in  a  private 
manuscript  which  was  not  originally  in- 
tended for  publication.  I  am,  unfortu- 
nately, not  able  to  reproduce  the  pen  and 
ink  illustrations  which  adorn  the  report. 
Some  of  them  are  extremely  clever, 
notably  the  frontispiece,  which  I  think  is 
intended  to  depict  the  triumph  of  Religion 
over  Belgravia. 

Extracts  frotn  Frank's  Rep  or  t, 

"Stephen  is  in  the  chair.  Over  his 
head  hangs  that  sweet  picture,  'Come 
unto  Me.'  We  have  said  our  prayers. 
Shall  I  ever  forget  that  '  Veni  Creator,* 
that  '  Magnificat,'  that  Creed,  or  that 
'  Our  Father,'  rising  like  a  great  battle-cry 
to  God?  As  we  said  'Thy  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven,'  it  seemed  to 
me  that  sympathetic  seraphs  filled  the 
room  and  sang  '  Amen.' 
132 


JUDGMENT 

"  Then  each  of  the  brothers  and  sisters 
gave  testimony  and  experience  of  Hving 
the  Christian  Hfe  in  the  midst  of  the 
world.  First  came  the  clergy.  Their 
chief  enemies  seemed  to  be  their  rela- 
tions and  their  Squires.  *  I  never  quite 
knew  before,'  said  one  priest,  'why  it 
might  be  necessary  to  hate  one's  father 
and  mother.  Since  I  began  to  lead  a 
poor  life,  sharing  my  dinner  often  with 
those  who  are  badly  off,  I  have  had 
nothing  but  furious  persecution  from  my 
relations.  I  am  told  that  1  am  mad,  and 
fit  only  to  be  shut  up  in  an  asylum.  In 
fact,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  keep 
from  going  to  my  home  in  order  to  avoid 
quarrels.  My  Squire,  too,  has  withdrawn  all 
his  subscriptions  from  the  church  because 
I  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Labourers'  Union,  and  spoke  in 
favour  of  an  attempt  to  call  attention  to 
their  crying  grievances,  and  also  because 
I  lent  the  National  schoolroom  to  the 
Gladstonian  candidate,  and  asked  him  to 
remove  his  high  pew^  which  he  seldom  uses, 

133 


STEPPIEN  REMARX 


in  order  to  make  room  for  some  more  seats 
for  the  poor.'  The  poor  town  clergy  seemed 
to  have  fared  no  better.  One  of  them  read 
out  some  letters  which  he  had  received 
from  old  supporters  who  had  withdrawn 
their  aid  because  of  his  attitude  towards 
the  Women  Workers'  movement.  '  You 
seem  to  me,'  wrote  one  of  his  corre- 
spondents, '  to  completely  misunderstand 
your  duties  as  a  minister.  You  have  no 
concern  whatever  with  these  matters. 
Your  business  is  to  lead  men  to  be 
content  with  their  wages,  and  to  look 
forward  to  a  brighter  land  hereafter.' 

"  The  next  to  render  their  account 
were  the  professional  men.  The  lawyers 
seemed  to  be  getting  on  happily,  but  the 
stockbrokers  were  in  despair.  Their  life 
in  the  light  of  an  earnest  following  of 
Christ  appeared  to  be  made  up  of  ghastly 
fictions  and  unreal  bargaining.  Three  of 
them  expressed  their  wish  to  leave  their 
occupation  and  to  take  to  something  else. 
The  doctors  and  dentists,  singers  and 
actors,  too.  seemed  uneasy  about  the 
134 


JUDGMENT 


lees,  and  Stephen  was  asked  to  appoint  a 
sub-commitiee  to  inquire  into  the  ethics 
of  proportionate  reward.  Then  came  the 
business  men.  One  aged  employer  gave 
us  a  simple  and  humble  account  of  how 
he  had  six  months  before,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  taken  the  trouble  to  visit  and  to 
£ret  to  know  those  who  worked  for  him. 
The  revelations  of  the  life  that  some  of 
them  led  had  induced  him  to  completely 
change  the  conduct  of  the  trade.  He 
was  rebuilding  the  workshops  and  pro- 
viding every  facility  for  the  health  and 
happiness  of  his  people.  They  were 
allowed  a  time  for  recreation  every  day, 
and  he  closed  early  twice  a  week.  Gym- 
nasia had  been  erected  for  the  boys  and 
girls,  and  reading-rooms  for  all.  He  had 
never  realised  before  that  drawing-rooms 
weie  desirable  for  any  but  the  upper  and 
middle  classes.  Every  single  man,  woman 
and  child  in  his  employ  was  now  received 
at  his  private  house,  and  they  were  fast 
making  real  friends  with  his  own  family. 
The  profits  of  the  business  had  gone  down 

135 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


three  per  cent.,  and  he  had  had  to  refuse 
to  give  his  daughter  a  grand  piano  for  her 
wedding  present ;  but  he  thanked  God  all 
the  same. 

"Other  employers  gave  similar  testi- 
mony. Many,  too,  showed  how  by  '  con- 
ciliation '  they  were  warding  off  labour 
troubles  among  their  men,  and  were 
getting  to  know  them  and  understand 
them  better. 

"The  tradesmen  came  next,  with  an 
appalling  exposure  of  the  'tricks  of  the 
trade.'  They  told  how  the  sugar  and  tea 
were  adulterated,  the  milk  starched,  the 
cloth  shoddied,  the  butter  larded,  the  beer 
watered  (and  worse),  the  coffee  chicoried, 
and  the  houses  jerry-built.  They  told  how 
the  girls  were  bullied  and  the  boys  made 
to  tell  falsehoods  and  cheat  with  the 
weights ;  they  told  how  the  women  were 
'  sweated  '  and  underpaid.  All  this  and 
much  more  that  was  sinful  they  had 
sworn  to  give  up  for  Christ's  sake ;  and 
now,  in  a  purer  atmosphere  and  with 
cleaner  hands,  though  perhaps  with 
136 


JUDGMENT 

declining  profits,  they,  too,  thanked 
God. 

"  The  rest  told  like  tales  of  brave  re- 
nunciations and  open  confessions  of 
Christ  before  men.  The  country  gentle- 
men spoke  of  cottages  rebuilt,  and  allot- 
ments let,  and  village  clubs  organised, 
and  drawing-rooms  and  dining-rooms 
opened  to  the  poor,  and  comforts  for  the 
aged.  The  young  men  told  how  they 
had  learnt  to  work  for  others'  good  and  to 
despise  an  idle  day." 

"Then  Stephen  rose  to  make  his  final 
speech,  of  which  these  are  only  some 
notes  : 

"  '  Dear  sisters  and  brothers  in  the  Lord, 
I  do  thank  our  God  and  Father  for  what 
we  have  heard  to-day.  Yours  are  brave 
lives,  braver  and  harder  than  those  which 
we  live  here  in  Alphege  House.  We 
have  our  temptations  it  is  true,  but  they 
are  not  so  terrible  as  yours.  Let  me 
comfort  you  with  the  words  of  our  ador- 
able Master:  "  Alarvel  not  my  brethren  if 
the    world    hate    you.     Ye   know   that   it 

137 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


hated  Me  before  it  hated  you.  Blessed 
are  ye  when  men  shall  hate  you,  and 
wlien  they  shall  separate  you  from  their 
company,  and  shall  reproach  you,  and 
cast  out  your  name  as  evil,  for  the  Son  of 
Man's  sake.  Rejoice  ye  in  that  day  and 
leap  for  joy."  Ves,  you  are  treading 
where  the  saints  have  trod.  Only 
remember,  your  lives  will  not  get  easier 
as  time  goes  on.  It  is  an  uphill  path,  the 
path  to  the  Cross.  The  world  will  go  on 
scoffing,  the  suffering  will  increase.  But 
take  it  up,  offer  it  a  willing  sacrifice  to 
Him  who  made  you.  Possibly  it  might 
be  better  if  some  of  you  were  to  join  your 
lives  and  works  together.  If,  for  example, 
you  employers  who  are  Christians  would 
give  employment  to  others  who  want  to 
live  a  good  life  too  ;  if  some  of  these  poor 
persecuted  boys  and  girls  could  work  for 
you,  you  would  help  each  other  to  be 
Christ-like.  In  this  way  the  Church 
would  become  more  in  reality  what  she 
is  in  theory,  the  home  of  Christ-loving 
people,  the  refuge  from  the  storms  of 
138 


JUDGMENT 

Satan,  founded  on  the  "Rock  of 
Ages." 

"  '  Never  forget  that  the  motto  of  our 
brotherhood  is  "  Be  ye  followers  of  Christ.'* 
We  know  not  what  misfortunes  may  be 
coming  upon  us.  This  may  be  the  last 
time  we  shall  meet  together  in  this  world. 
But  go  bravely  on.  If  any  fall  away,  do 
not  despair.  Remain  firm,  if  only  a  few 
are  left.     The  Lord  be  with  you.' 

"This  is  all  I  can  remember  of  what  he 
said,  but  his  face— I  see  it  still:  it  shone 
like  the  face  of  an  angel. 

"Frank  Newton.* 


*3y 


XIII 
ON  THE  FEAST  OF  STEPHEN 

It  was  a  Christmas  night  of  the  old- 
fashioned  type.  London  was  wrapped  in 
snow.  Few  people  were  in  the  streets,  for 
all  who  were  able  were  wisely  occupied 
indoors  with  snapdragon,  mistletoe,  holly, 
and  mince-pies.  Poor  old  Snivel  was 
trudging  along  the  Thames  Embankment. 
He  had  left  his  home  in  the  Borough, 
where  poor  little  Kittie  lay  sick,  that  he 
might  try  and  pick  up  a  few  coppers  round 
the  big  hotels  at  Charing  Cross.  "  There's 
a  gran'  ball  on  to  night  at  the  'Cos- 
mopolly,'  "  his  wife  had  told  him.  She  had 
heard  it  from  Tim  Tittles  the  crossing- 
sweeper.  "  Maybe  you'll  get  summut  for 
callin'  the  nobses'  cabs."  So  the  poor  old 
fellow  had  put  on  his  crazy  hat  and 
140 


ox  THE  FEAST  OF  STEPHEN 


sallied  forth.  He  was  seventy-nine  years 
old  ;  he  had  no  shirt;  all  he  could  call  his 
own  was  his  chronic  asthma  and  the 
**  brownkiters." 

Sir  Humphrey  Juniper  had  been  born 
on  the  same  day  as  old  Snivel,  nine-and- 
seventy  years  before,  and  he  had  chronic 
aschma  too,  but  on  that  Christmas  night 
he  was  safely  ensconced  in  his  villa  at 
Monaco.  There  was  no  snow  to  bother 
him,  and  no  sick  grand-daughter  to  worry 
him,  and  every  prospect  of  plenty  for 
breakfast  next  morning.  And  yet  he  was 
not  really  as  happy  as  the  old  Borough 
**cad,"  for  Sir  Humphrey  had  a  pricking 
conscience.  He  had  that  morning  refused 
to  help  his  widowed  sister,  whose  sons 
were  a  trouble  to  her.  She  had  written  to 
ask  for  a  little  Christmas  box  and  the 
Baronet  had  answered  "No." 

Ah,  yes,  old  Snivel  was  the  happier,  in 
spite  of  the  snow,  as  he  walked  to  Charing 
Cross. 

"  I    must  go  and    listen  to  the  Sisters 

before  I  go  to  my  work,"  said  the  old  man 

141 


STEPHEN  REMATIX 


to  himself.  It  was  his  Httle  bit  of  seasonable 
pleasure.  For  the  last  three  Christmases 
he  had  stood  outside  the  "  Hostel  of  ihe 
Holy  Child "  and  listened  to  the  Sister 
as  they  chanted  their  night  office.  "  Ain't 
it  just  nice  ?  "  he  asked  himself  as  he  leant 
against  the  lamp-post  while  the  hymn  was 
wafted  out  to  him  on  the  crisp,  cold  air  : 

"Come  and  behold  Him,  born   the   King 
of  Angels  ; 
Oh  come  ye,  oh  come  ye  to  Bethlehem." 

"  I'd  like  to  go  to  Bethlem,"  said  the  old 
man.  'Oh  my!  ain't  it  cold?  I'd  like 
to  see  that  Child  they  talk  of.  I  s'pose 
that's  his  picture,"  he  said  faintly  as  he 
looked  up  at  the  gateway  of  the  Hostel,  on 
which  w^as  sculptured  the  baby  face  of  the 
King  of  Kings  in  His  holy  mother's  arms. 
"  I  wish,  I  wish  I  could  see  that  Child." 
And  then  old  Snivel  tottered  and  fell  into 
the  arms  of  a  man  in  a  black  cloak. 

"  Hold  my  stick,  Vesey,"  said  Stephen, 
**  or  I  shall  drop  him .     Hell  soon  be  all 
right.     It's  only  the  cold.     Why,  look  at 
142 


ON  THE  FEAST  OF  STEPHEN 

the  poor  old  chap,  he  has  got  no  shirt  on. 
A  nice  sort  of  Christmas  he's  having." 

Maitland  and  Stephen  Remarx  (for  it 
was  they  who  rescued  Snivel)  were 
returning  from  a  visit  to  Rotherhithe. 
They  had  been  spending  the  day  and 
night  previous  in  a  pestilential  slum  in 
that  neighbourhood,  where  the  influenza 
was  raging.  They  were  both  thoroughly 
tired  out,  especially  Stephen,  and  were 
looking  forward  with  almost  boyish 
delight  to  a  late  Christmas  supper  at 
Alphege  House.  But  it  was  not  to  be. 
*  Frank  and  Jack,  the  Doctor  and  the 
Duke,  will  have  to  wait,"  said  Stephen. 
"  We  must  take  the  old  man  home." 

"  Where  do  you  live  ? ''  said  Vesey,  for 
Snivel  had  come  to  himself  by  this  time. 

"  Padarice  Terrus,"  he  replied,  "  in  the 
Burrer." 

"  Paradise  I  suppose  he  means,"  said 
Stephen.  "  I  wonder  who  the  fiend  was 
who  called  all  these  dreadful  places  by 
such  pretty  names.  All  right,  old  man,  I 
know  where  it  is.     We'll  take  you  home. 

143 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


I'm  sorry  we  can't  call  a  cab,  but  we've 
got  no  money  ;   so  we'll  carry  you  " 

"  Be  you  from  Bethlem  ?  "  said  the  old 
man,  his  mind  still  running  on  the  hymn. 

"  No,  from  Rotherhithe,"  said  Stephen, 
smiling.  "  But  come  along,  it's  striking 
twelve  by  Big  Ben,  and  we  must  get  to 
Paradise  to  day.  Here,  put  my  cloak 
round  him,  Vesey." 

JSo  they  took  him  home. 

There  was  Christmas  joy  that  midnight 
after  all  in  Paradise  Terrace.  If  he  did 
not  see  the  Child  Himself,  the  old  man  saw 
something  very  much  like  Him  in  those 
two  friends,  the  parson  and  the  Member 
of  Parliament. 

Poor  little  Kitty  almost  revived  at  the 
sight  of  the  kindness  her  grandfather  was 
receiving. 

"  We'll  take  you  in  the  morning  to  our 
Children's  Hospital,"  said  Stephen  ;  "  good 
Doctor  Probyn  will  come  and  fetch  you. 
And  you  two  old  people,"  he  continued, 
turning  to  Snivel  and  his  wife,  "  you  must 
live  here  no  longer;  you  are  past  work, 
144 


ox  TIIR  FKAST  OF  STEPHEN 

and  I  know  you  don't  want  to  go  to  the 
'  Mouse';  but  I  have  got  a  kind  lady  who 
has  just  opened  an  Ahnshouse,  a  real 
*  Paradise  Terrace '  down  in  Kent.  She 
will  take  you  in  next  week,  and  meantime 
we'll  make  you  comfortable.  Wait  a 
minute — I'll  be  back  directly."  And 
Stephen  slammed  the  creaking  door  be- 
hind him. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  he  returned. 
"Here,  missus,"  he  said,  "here's  nine- 
pence  to  get  your  breakfast  with." 

"  Hullo,  Stephen,  where  did  you  get 
that  from  ?  "  asked  Vesey  in  surprise. 

"Never  you  mind,"  said  Stephen  ;  and 
then  in  a  whisper  he  added:  "  I  knocked 
up  old  Cheetham,  a  relation  of  mine,  and 
he  gave  me  ninepence  on  my  shirt  and 
waistcoat." 

"  But,  my  dear  fellow,  you'll  be  so  cold." 

"Never  mind,"  said  Stephen,  though  he 
shivered  as  he  spoke.  "  I  have  got  my 
cloak,  and  besides,  if  old  Snivel  can  do 
without  a  shirt,  why  can't  I  ?  Come  along, 
v.,  we'll  soon  be  home." 

K  145 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


They  hurried  over  Blackfriars  Bridge  as 
the  cathedral  clock  struck  four. 

«  ^  »  * 

The  last  of  the  dancers  was  at  that 
moment  bidding  "  Good-bye  "  to  his  hosts 
at  the  "  Hotel  Cosmopoie.'' 

"A  rippin'  good  ball  I  call  it,  old 
chappy.    Ta,  ta,  Harry  !    Ta,  ta,  Arthur  ! " 

It  was  Captain  Deadly  who  spoke,  and 
our  old  friends  Lord  Arthur  and  Lord 
Henry  who  answered  "  Good-bye." 

"I  say  it's  quite  hot  in  here,"  said  Lord 
Arthur,  "  in  spite  of  the  cold  outside. 
Let's  open  the  window  in  the  supper-room 
and  sit  there  a  bit  before  we  turn  in,  Harry." 

"By  George,  I  wouldn't  care  to  sleep 
out  there  to-night,"  said  Henry,  looking 
towards  the  Embankment. 

"  Oh  that's  all  rot,"  said  Arthur.  "  Ii  was 
only  old  Booth,  who  had  a  nightmare  and 
thought  he  saw  some  pool  devils  out  on 
the  riverside  ;  but  it  wasn't  true — at  least 
the  papers  said  not. ' 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  about  that "  said 
Henry,  dubiously. 

"  Well,  I'm  bio  wed  ! "  said  Lord  Arthur, 
146 


ON  THE  FEAST  OF  STEniEN 


with  an  oath,  suddenly.  "  Do  you  see  those 
two  fellows  coming  along  there  by  the 
lamppost?  Now,  I'll  eat  my  hat  if  ihey 
aren't  that  canting  idiot,  Remarx,  and  that 
beast,  Maitland." 

"Are  you  sure?"  said  Henr}'. 

"  Ves  ;  I  should  know  them  a  mile  off. 
Look — they're  by  the  lamp  now.  Yes, 
it  is  they.     You  cursed,  canting " 

"  Don't  talk  like  that,  Arthur,"  remon- 
strated Henry. 

"  I'll  just  remind  them  of  my  presence, 
though,"  said  Arthur,  gathering  up  some 
snow  from  the  window-sill.  "Look  here, 
Harry,  be  sure  and  shut  it  down  directly 
I've  shied  this.     Here  goes  !  " 

Blinded  for  the  moment,  and  losing 
his  balance,  Stephen  fell  into  the  road- 
way. A  shout  from  the  driver  of  a  cart 
rang  out  on  the  still  morning  air.  It  was 
too  late.  The  wheel  went  over  him. 
•  «  ♦  « 

"It's  a  cruel  business,"  said  Doctor 
Probyn  an  hour  later,  as  he  sat  by  the 
bedside  of  the  unconscious  Stephen  in 
the  "  Hostel  of  the  Holy  Child." 

147 


STEPHEN  REMARX 


They  were  kneeling  round  his  bed, 
those  six  men  who  had  followed  him,  and 
with  him  had  found  their  Lord.  Who  can 
describe  the  cloud  of  dark  sadness  that  was 
then  descending  upon  their  loving  hearts, 
as  it  became  only  too  evident  that 
Stephen  had  received  a  fatal  injury. 
The  earnest  face  of  Oxenham  was  turned 
towards  him.  Tears  trickled  down  his 
firm  and  manly  countenance.  He  could 
not  speak :  he  could  only  gaze,  and 
think  of  all  that  he  owed  of  life  and  light 
to  that  poor  sufferer  upon  the  bed.  Ah 
what  a  debt  it  was !  All  the  inspiration 
of  his  life,  all  that  new  vigour  that  had 
lately  come  into  his  work  for  humanity, 
all  that  hope  for  the  present  and  future  of 
God's  earth  and  people,  all  that  intense 
insight  into  the  importance  and  reality 
and  issues  and  meanings  of  things  which 
comes  from  faith  in  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God — all  this  he  owed  to 
Stephen.  And  then  for  Paul  Durnford, 
what  an  awful  hour  was  this !  Was  he 
really  going  to  be  bereft  of  that  presence 
which    since   the    old    Oxford    days   had 

>4S 


ON  THE  FEAST  OF  STEFIIEN 

been  his  greatest  joy  and  strength?  He 
thought  of  a  day  some  ten  years  back 
^vhen,  in  Magdalen  Gardens,  Stephen  had 
walked  with  him  and  spoken  of  the  Deity 
of  Christ.  Paul  at  that  time  was  afflicted 
with  doubts  and  difficulties,  and  it  was  his 
friend  who  had  brought  him  out  of 
darkness  into  light.  He  had  fought  his 
way  through  mists  and  fogs  to  the  day  of 
faith,  and  it  was  Stephen  who  had  been 
his  leader  under  God. 

Or  Maitland,  or  Frank,  or  the  Duke — 
what  of  them?  Each  in  his  different  way 
had  been  brought  under  the  influence  of 
this  strangely  holy  man.  Each  had  learnt 
something  from  his  wonderful  enthusiasm; 
each  had  caught  something  of  his  genius 
for  self-sacrifice.  And  the  Doctor  too  :  he 
thought  of  a  former  occasion  on  which  he 
had  stood  by  Stephen's  sick-bed,  and  in  the 
contemplation  of  his  superhuman  patience 
and  perfect  self-control  in  agony  had  learnt 
that  something  of  the  heroism  of  Calvary 
may  still  be  reproduced  in  Christ's  own 
soldiers  who  believe  in  Him. 

"  My  God,   my  God ! "  said  Vesey  on 

149 


STEPHEN   REMARX 


his  knees,  "  it  only  for  one  moment,  let 
him  speak  to  us.  I  cannot,  I  dare  not 
live  without  him.  Stephen,"  cried  the 
poor  fellow  in  his  anguish,  "Stephen,  my 
brother,  my  dearest,  dearest  brother  !  " 

There  was  an  awful  silence,  broken  only 
by  the  fitful  breathing  of  the  dying  priest. 

"  Open  the  door,"  said  the  Doctor;  "he 
wants  air." 

"Will  the  music  disturb  him?"  whis- 
pered the  Sister  ;  "  they  are  singing  the 
Eucharist  in  the  chapel." 

"  No,"  said  Doctor  Probyn,  "  he  has 
almost  joined  the  Choir." 

She  opened  the  door,  and  there  arose 
from  the  chapel  below  the  soothing  mono- 
tone of  the  Day's  Epistle  : 

"  And  they  stoned  Stephen,  calling 
upon  God,  and  saying :  '  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit'  And  he  kneeled  down, 
and  cried  with  a  loud  voice  :  '  Lord,  lay 
not  this  sin  to  their  charge.'  And  when  he 
had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep." 


«5o 


